WEBVTT 00:00:00.758 --> 00:00:04.049 We're going to begin in 1964. 00:00:04.049 --> 00:00:07.022 Bob Dylan is 23 years old, and his career 00:00:07.022 --> 00:00:09.183 is just reaching its pinnacle. 00:00:09.183 --> 00:00:11.624 He's been christened the voice of a generation, 00:00:11.624 --> 00:00:14.084 and he's churning out classic songs 00:00:14.084 --> 00:00:16.047 at a seemingly impossible rate, 00:00:16.047 --> 00:00:20.498 but there's a small minority of dissenters, and they claim 00:00:20.498 --> 00:00:24.237 that Bob Dylan is stealing other people's songs. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:24.237 --> 00:00:28.377 2004. Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, 00:00:28.377 --> 00:00:30.290 takes the Beatles' "White Album," 00:00:30.290 --> 00:00:32.067 combines it with Jay-Z's "The Black Album" 00:00:32.067 --> 00:00:33.891 to create "The Grey Album." 00:00:33.891 --> 00:00:35.810 "The Grey Album" becomes an immediate sensation online, 00:00:35.810 --> 00:00:38.570 and the Beatles' record company sends out countless 00:00:38.570 --> 00:00:41.810 cease-and-desist letters for "unfair competition 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:45.691 and dilution of our valuable property." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:45.691 --> 00:00:47.683 Now, "The Grey Album" is a remix. 00:00:47.683 --> 00:00:50.080 It is new media created from old media. 00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:52.665 It was made using these three techniques: 00:00:52.665 --> 00:00:55.907 copy, transform and combine. 00:00:55.907 --> 00:00:57.829 It's how you remix. You take existing songs, 00:00:57.829 --> 00:00:59.549 you chop them up, you transform the pieces, 00:00:59.549 --> 00:01:01.389 you combine them back together again, 00:01:01.389 --> 00:01:03.366 and you've got a new song, but that new song 00:01:03.366 --> 00:01:06.100 is clearly comprised of old songs. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:06.100 --> 00:01:09.413 But I think these aren't just the components of remixing. 00:01:09.413 --> 00:01:12.457 I think these are the basic elements of all creativity. 00:01:12.457 --> 00:01:14.268 I think everything is a remix, 00:01:14.268 --> 00:01:18.959 and I think this is a better way to conceive of creativity. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.952 All right, let's head back to 1964, and let's hear 00:01:21.952 --> 00:01:24.973 where some of Dylan's early songs came from. 00:01:24.973 --> 00:01:26.850 We'll do some side-by-side comparisons here. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:26.850 --> 00:01:28.056 All right, this first song you're going to hear 00:01:28.056 --> 00:01:30.470 is "Nottamun Town." It's a traditional folk tune. 00:01:30.470 --> 00:01:33.051 After that, you'll hear Dylan's "Masters of War." NOTE Paragraph 00:01:33.058 --> 00:01:37.958 Jean Ritchie: ♫ In Nottamun Town, not a soul would look out, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:01:37.958 --> 00:01:44.556 ♫ not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:01:44.556 --> 00:01:48.830 Bob Dylan: ♫ Come you masters of war, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:01:48.830 --> 00:01:57.435 ♫ you that build the big guns, you that build the death planes, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:01:57.435 --> 00:02:00.504 ♫ You that build all the bombs. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:00.504 --> 00:02:02.426 Kirby Ferguson: Okay, so that's the same basic melody 00:02:02.426 --> 00:02:05.585 and overall structure. This next one is "The Patriot Game," 00:02:05.585 --> 00:02:07.577 by Dominic Behan. Alongside that, 00:02:07.577 --> 00:02:09.851 you're going to hear "With God on Our Side," by Dylan. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:09.851 --> 00:02:15.109 Dominic Behan: ♫ Come all ye young rebels, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:15.109 --> 00:02:19.639 ♫ and list while I sing, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:27.851 ♫ for the love of one's land is a terrible thing. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:27.851 --> 00:02:33.663 BD: ♫ Oh my name it is nothin', ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:33.663 --> 00:02:38.191 ♫ my age it means less, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:38.191 --> 00:02:45.010 ♫ the country I come from is called the Midwest. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:02:45.010 --> 00:02:46.636 KF: Okay, so in this case, Dylan admits 00:02:46.636 --> 00:02:49.076 he must have heard "The Patriot Game," he forgot about it, 00:02:49.076 --> 00:02:50.635 then when the song kind of bubbled back up 00:02:50.635 --> 00:02:52.946 in his brain, he just thought it was his song. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:52.946 --> 00:02:54.178 Last one, this is "Who's Going To Buy You Ribbons," 00:02:54.178 --> 00:02:55.738 another traditional folk tune. 00:02:55.738 --> 00:02:58.035 Alongside that is "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." 00:02:58.035 --> 00:02:59.860 This one's more about the lyric. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:06.751 Paul Clayton: ♫ It ain't no use to sit and sigh now, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:06.751 --> 00:03:14.615 ♫ darlin', and it ain't no use to sit and cry now. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:14.615 --> 00:03:20.560 BD: ♫ It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:24.212 ♫ if you don't know by now, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:24.212 --> 00:03:29.603 ♫ and it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:29.603 --> 00:03:32.490 ♫ it'll never do somehow. ♫ NOTE Paragraph 00:03:32.490 --> 00:03:34.762 KF: Okay, now, there's a lot of these. 00:03:34.762 --> 00:03:36.776 It's been estimated that two thirds of the melodies 00:03:36.776 --> 00:03:39.319 Dylan used in his early songs were borrowed. 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:41.175 This is pretty typical among folk singers. 00:03:41.175 --> 00:03:43.538 Here's the advice of Dylan's idol, Woody Guthrie. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:43.538 --> 00:03:45.068 "The worlds are the important thing. 00:03:45.068 --> 00:03:46.900 Don't worry about tunes. Take a tune, 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:48.576 sing high when they sing low, 00:03:48.576 --> 00:03:51.784 sing fast when they sing slow, and you've got a new tune." 00:03:51.784 --> 00:03:55.781 (Laughter) (Applause) 00:03:55.781 --> 00:03:57.728 And that's, that's what Guthrie did right here, 00:03:57.728 --> 00:04:00.335 and I'm sure you all recognize the results. 00:04:00.335 --> 00:04:06.252 (Music) 00:04:06.252 --> 00:04:08.647 We know this tune, right? We know it? 00:04:08.647 --> 00:04:10.060 Actually you don't. 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:12.744 That is "When the World's on Fire," a very old melody, 00:04:12.744 --> 00:04:15.005 in this case performed by the Carter Family. 00:04:15.005 --> 00:04:17.683 Guthrie adapted it into "This Land Is Your Land." 00:04:17.683 --> 00:04:22.003 So, Bob Dylan, like all folk singers, he copied melodies, 00:04:22.003 --> 00:04:24.725 he transformed them, he combined them with new lyrics 00:04:24.725 --> 00:04:27.122 which were frequently their own concoction 00:04:27.122 --> 00:04:29.383 of previous stuff. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:29.383 --> 00:04:33.046 Now, American copyright and patent laws run counter 00:04:33.046 --> 00:04:35.769 to this notion that we build on the work of others. 00:04:35.769 --> 00:04:38.436 Instead, these laws and laws around the world 00:04:38.436 --> 00:04:42.158 use the rather awkward analogy of property. 00:04:42.158 --> 00:04:44.601 Now, creative works may indeed be kind of like property, 00:04:44.601 --> 00:04:46.910 but it's property that we're all building on, 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.399 and creations can only take root and grow 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:52.115 once that ground has been prepared. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:52.115 --> 00:04:54.961 Henry Ford once said, "I invented nothing new. 00:04:54.961 --> 00:04:56.964 I simply assembled the discoveries of other men 00:04:56.964 --> 00:04:59.551 behind whom were centuries of work. 00:04:59.551 --> 00:05:01.934 Progress happens when all the factors that make for it 00:05:01.934 --> 00:05:05.964 are ready and then it is inevitable." NOTE Paragraph 00:05:05.964 --> 00:05:10.509 2007. The iPhone makes it debut. 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:13.176 Apple undoubtedly brings this innovation to us early, 00:05:13.176 --> 00:05:15.673 but its time was approaching because its core technology 00:05:15.673 --> 00:05:17.719 had been evolving for decades. 00:05:17.719 --> 00:05:19.701 That's multi-touch, controlling a device 00:05:19.701 --> 00:05:21.478 by touching its display. 00:05:21.478 --> 00:05:23.897 Here is Steve Jobs introducing multi-touch 00:05:23.897 --> 00:05:26.137 and making a rather foreboding joke. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:26.137 --> 00:05:28.940 Steve Jobs: And we have invented a new technology 00:05:28.940 --> 00:05:31.200 called multi-touch. 00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:33.653 You can do multi-fingered gestures on it, 00:05:33.653 --> 00:05:37.264 and boy have we patented it. (Laughter) 00:05:37.264 --> 00:05:41.430 KF: Yes. And yet, here is multi-touch in action. 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:43.451 This is at TED, actually, about a year earlier. 00:05:43.451 --> 00:05:45.919 This is Jeff Han, and, I mean, that's multi-touch. 00:05:45.919 --> 00:05:47.670 It's the same animal, at least. 00:05:47.670 --> 00:05:49.437 Let's hear what Jeff Han has to say about this 00:05:49.437 --> 00:05:51.263 newfangled technology. 00:05:51.263 --> 00:05:53.431 Jeff Han: Multi-touch sensing isn't anything -- 00:05:53.431 --> 00:05:55.637 isn't completely new. I mean, people like Bill Buxton 00:05:55.637 --> 00:05:57.286 have been playing around with it in the '80s. 00:05:57.286 --> 00:06:00.485 The technology, you know, isn't the most exciting thing here 00:06:00.485 --> 00:06:03.547 right now other than probably its newfound accessibility. 00:06:03.547 --> 00:06:05.480 KF: So he's pretty frank about it not being new. 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:08.023 So it's not multi-touch as a whole that's patented. 00:06:08.023 --> 00:06:10.160 It's the small parts of it that are, 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:11.464 and it's in these small details where 00:06:11.464 --> 00:06:14.582 we can clearly see patent law contradicting its intent: 00:06:14.582 --> 00:06:17.743 to promote the progress of useful arts. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:17.743 --> 00:06:20.927 Here is the first ever slide-to-unlock. 00:06:20.927 --> 00:06:23.796 That is all there is to it. Apple has patented this. 00:06:23.796 --> 00:06:26.608 It's a 28-page software patent, but I will summarize 00:06:26.608 --> 00:06:30.544 what it covers. Spoiler alert: Unlocking your phone 00:06:30.544 --> 00:06:33.481 by sliding an icon with your finger. (Laughter) 00:06:33.481 --> 00:06:36.498 I'm only exaggerating a little bit. It's a broad patent. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:36.498 --> 00:06:39.347 Now, can someone own this idea? 00:06:39.347 --> 00:06:41.777 Now, back in the '80s, there were no software patents, 00:06:41.777 --> 00:06:44.938 and it was Xerox that pioneered the graphical user interface. 00:06:44.938 --> 00:06:47.856 What if they had patented pop-up menus, 00:06:47.856 --> 00:06:52.280 scrollbars, the desktop with icons that look like folders 00:06:52.280 --> 00:06:54.267 and sheets of paper? 00:06:54.267 --> 00:06:56.616 Would a young and inexperienced Apple 00:06:56.616 --> 00:06:59.485 have survived the legal assault from a much larger 00:06:59.485 --> 00:07:03.565 and more mature company like Xerox? NOTE Paragraph 00:07:03.565 --> 00:07:06.012 Now, this idea that everything is a remix might sound 00:07:06.012 --> 00:07:10.139 like common sense until you're the one getting remixed. 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:11.789 For example ... 00:07:11.789 --> 00:07:13.028 SJ: I mean, Picasso had a saying. 00:07:13.028 --> 00:07:16.585 He said, "Good artists copy. Great artists steal." 00:07:16.585 --> 00:07:18.907 And we have, you know, 00:07:18.907 --> 00:07:22.035 always been shameless about stealing great ideas. 00:07:22.035 --> 00:07:23.933 KF: Okay, so that's in '96. Here's in 2010. 00:07:23.933 --> 00:07:26.842 "I'm going to destroy Android because it's a stolen product." 00:07:26.842 --> 00:07:28.384 (Laughter) 00:07:28.384 --> 00:07:32.023 "I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." (Laughter) 00:07:32.023 --> 00:07:35.527 Okay, so in other words, great artists steal, but not from me. 00:07:35.527 --> 00:07:37.878 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:07:37.878 --> 00:07:41.486 Now, behavioral economists might refer to this sort of thing as loss aversion 00:07:41.486 --> 00:07:43.705 We have a strong predisposition towards protecting 00:07:43.705 --> 00:07:45.634 what we feel is ours. 00:07:45.634 --> 00:07:47.552 We have no such aversion towards copying 00:07:47.552 --> 00:07:50.285 what other people have, because we do that nonstop. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:50.285 --> 00:07:52.760 So here's the sort of equation we're looking at. 00:07:52.760 --> 00:07:55.417 We've got laws that fundamentally treat creative works as property, 00:07:55.417 --> 00:07:58.202 plus massive rewards or settlements 00:07:58.202 --> 00:08:00.399 in infringement cases, plus huge legal fees 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.062 to protect yourself in court, 00:08:02.062 --> 00:08:05.566 plus cognitive biases against perceived loss. 00:08:05.566 --> 00:08:07.709 And the sum looks like this. 00:08:07.709 --> 00:08:10.532 That is the last four years of lawsuits 00:08:10.532 --> 00:08:13.098 in the realm of smartphones. 00:08:13.098 --> 00:08:18.869 Is this promoting the progress of useful arts? NOTE Paragraph 00:08:18.869 --> 00:08:24.637 1983. Bob Dylan is 42 years old, and his time 00:08:24.637 --> 00:08:27.963 in the cultural spotlight is long since past. 00:08:27.963 --> 00:08:30.572 He records a song called "Blind Willie McTell," 00:08:30.572 --> 00:08:32.758 named after the blues singer, and the song 00:08:32.758 --> 00:08:36.428 is a voyage through the past, through a much darker time, 00:08:36.428 --> 00:08:39.578 but a simpler one, a time when musicians like Willie McTell 00:08:39.578 --> 00:08:42.098 had few illusions about what they did. 00:08:42.098 --> 00:08:44.348 "I jump 'em from other writers 00:08:44.348 --> 00:08:46.913 but I arrange 'em my own way." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:46.913 --> 00:08:48.630 I think this is mostly what we do. 00:08:48.630 --> 00:08:51.996 Our creativity comes from without, not from within. 00:08:51.996 --> 00:08:54.917 We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another, 00:08:54.917 --> 00:08:57.742 and admitting this to ourselves isn't an embrace 00:08:57.742 --> 00:09:00.576 of mediocrity and derivativeness. 00:09:00.576 --> 00:09:03.209 It's a liberation from our misconceptions, 00:09:03.209 --> 00:09:06.292 and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves 00:09:06.292 --> 00:09:09.027 and to simply begin. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:09.027 --> 00:09:11.977 Thank you so much. It was an honor to be here. 00:09:11.977 --> 00:09:14.754 Thank you. (Applause) 00:09:14.754 --> 00:09:18.138 Thank you. Thank you. (Applause) 00:09:18.138 --> 00:09:21.479 Thank you. (Applause)