RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2008) on Netflix
NR20081h 26mDocumentary
A documentary about the changing concept of copyright. Mash-up musician Gregg Gillis builds tracks from unauthorized samples, while Lawrence Lessig and Cory Doctorow argue for freer exchange.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb7.5/101,312 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes42%
Trailer
Plot summary
Shot over six years and assembled from contributions by hundreds of people through the Open Source Cinema website, the film examines what copyright now covers. Gregg Gillis, the mash-up musician known as Girl Talk, builds tracks from dozens of uncleared samples, and one of his albums carried a potential liability near 45 million dollars; some call him a creative rebel, others a pure infringer. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig discusses fair use and the legal protection of it. Cory Doctorow, a blogger and science fiction author, campaigns for reform and Creative Commons licenses. Gilberto Gil, the Brazilian musician and former cultural affairs minister, sponsored Culture Points, which grants music technology and education in poor neighborhoods.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jammie Thomas, a single mother earning US$36,000 a year, was ordered to pay US$222,220 in damages to the Recording Industry Association of America for making 24 songs available on the Kazaa file-sharing network, a case the documentary covers.
- Gregg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, is a mashup musician whose tracks often use a dozen or more unauthorized samples; his 2006 album Night Ripper had potentially 300 copyright infringements and a maximum financial liability penalty of around $45 million.
- Created over six years with the remix work of hundreds of contributors to the Open Source Cinema website, RiP! was called the "world's first open source documentary" by its director, Brett Gaylor.
