Comments on: What are the Best/Worst “Remixes” of Public Domain Works? http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/ Information, Law, and the Law of Information Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:08:14 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Kevin Donovan http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-57820 Kevin Donovan Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:16:14 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-57820 Disney Disney

]]> By: Tim Armstrong http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-53041 Tim Armstrong Mon, 19 May 2008 19:44:02 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-53041 I actually prefer Sir Ian McKellen's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_%281995_film%29" rel="nofollow">film adaptation</a> of <i>Richard III</i> (set in the 1930s with Richard as a loose analog to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" rel="nofollow">you-know-who</a>) to Olivier's, possibly because I saw the original stage production on tour in D.C. Great examples, all. I actually prefer Sir Ian McKellen’s film adaptation of Richard III (set in the 1930s with Richard as a loose analog to you-know-who) to Olivier’s, possibly because I saw the original stage production on tour in D.C. Great examples, all.

]]> By: Rebecca Tushnet http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-53040 Rebecca Tushnet Mon, 19 May 2008 19:17:02 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-53040 Fairy tales are a rich source of material; Jasper Fforde, Stephen Brust (who also does a mean rewriting of the war in Heaven in To Reign in Hell), Gregory Maguire, Angela Carter, and Neil Gaiman ("Snow, Glass, Apples"--shiver) come to mind as doing really good versions off the top of my head-- there's a long list. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/index.html has a really comprehensive list. There's also Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, and though I can understand not liking Troy I suggest that Clueless might be a better example. Though don't discount pure copying, or performance, of the classics--the many lovely Hamlets I've seen, and the unlovely ones, are enabled by the public domain status of Shakespeare, whose heirs might otherwise suppress all those versions set in WWII or the Roaring Twenties or on Wall Street, just as the Gershwin estate disallows crossracial casting in Porgy & Bess and Beckett refuses crossgender casting in Waiting for Godot. Fairy tales are a rich source of material; Jasper Fforde, Stephen Brust (who also does a mean rewriting of the war in Heaven in To Reign in Hell), Gregory Maguire, Angela Carter, and Neil Gaiman (”Snow, Glass, Apples”–shiver) come to mind as doing really good versions off the top of my head– there’s a long list. http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/index.html has a really comprehensive list. There’s also Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, and though I can understand not liking Troy I suggest that Clueless might be a better example. Though don’t discount pure copying, or performance, of the classics–the many lovely Hamlets I’ve seen, and the unlovely ones, are enabled by the public domain status of Shakespeare, whose heirs might otherwise suppress all those versions set in WWII or the Roaring Twenties or on Wall Street, just as the Gershwin estate disallows crossracial casting in Porgy & Bess and Beckett refuses crossgender casting in Waiting for Godot.

]]> By: Michael M. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-52374 Michael M. Fri, 02 May 2008 21:38:51 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-52374 I'm not sure if this is what you're after, but two of my favorite novels that take their inspiration directly from public domain works are "Ahab's Wife" by Sena Naslund and "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. The former is the imagined life of Melville's character's wife (she is only mentioned in passing in "Moby Dick") and the latter the imagined life of the mad Mrs. Rochester from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" before she was locked in the attic. And of course, arguably the greatest novel of the 20th Century, "Ulysses," is a 'remix' of Homer's "Odyssey." Thank goodness James Joyce didn't have to contend with Homer's heirs the way others have had to contend with Joyce's heirs. I’m not sure if this is what you’re after, but two of my favorite novels that take their inspiration directly from public domain works are “Ahab’s Wife” by Sena Naslund and “Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys. The former is the imagined life of Melville’s character’s wife (she is only mentioned in passing in “Moby Dick”) and the latter the imagined life of the mad Mrs. Rochester from Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” before she was locked in the attic.

And of course, arguably the greatest novel of the 20th Century, “Ulysses,” is a ‘remix’ of Homer’s “Odyssey.” Thank goodness James Joyce didn’t have to contend with Homer’s heirs the way others have had to contend with Joyce’s heirs.

]]> By: Dan Collier http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-52023 Dan Collier Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:44:57 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-52023 You repeatedly mentioned art, so my comment may be off-topic because it involves science writing which hardly qualifies as art. However I'd suggest the following idea as an improvement and remixing of public domain works. Many medical journals release abstracts of articles to the NLM for publishing in PubMed under a public domain license. PubMed features advanced search and filter techniques. What it lacks is what Time and Newsweek and paper journals all have - the ability to easily browse and skim the contents. I had and implemented the idea to build a new front-end for PubMed's public domain data which enables easier browsing of the mountains of new data that practicing clinicians are expected to keep aware of. The following link ( 501c3 org, no ads) http://daveproject.org/journalfeeds.cfm is the first iteration of that idea. What is unique in this case about remixing public domain data is that no individual publishing concern controls the material which is combined and remixed. In theory, I could harvest this information from individual publishers themselves, however they could also deny my attempts to harvest data. A subset of the needed information would result. Expecting physicians to visit 15 different publisher's sites to browse the same information as provided on one site using public domain data would be time consuming, prone to gaps in information, and ultimately detrimental to society at large. While in this case the individual abstracts are not improved upon, the possibility for aggregation of public domain data can be seen to have it's own positive benefits. You repeatedly mentioned art, so my comment may be off-topic because it involves science writing which hardly qualifies as art. However I’d suggest the following idea as an improvement and remixing of public domain works.

Many medical journals release abstracts of articles to the NLM for publishing in PubMed under a public domain license. PubMed features advanced search and filter techniques. What it lacks is what Time and Newsweek and paper journals all have – the ability to easily browse and skim the contents.

I had and implemented the idea to build a new front-end for PubMed’s public domain data which enables easier browsing of the mountains of new data that practicing clinicians are expected to keep aware of. The following link ( 501c3 org, no ads) http://daveproject.org/journalfeeds.cfm is the first iteration of that idea.

What is unique in this case about remixing public domain data is that no individual publishing concern controls the material which is combined and remixed. In theory, I could harvest this information from individual publishers themselves, however they could also deny my attempts to harvest data. A subset of the needed information would result.

Expecting physicians to visit 15 different publisher’s sites to browse the same information as provided on one site using public domain data would be time consuming, prone to gaps in information, and ultimately detrimental to society at large. While in this case the individual abstracts are not improved upon, the possibility for aggregation of public domain data can be seen to have it’s own positive benefits.

]]> By: Geoff http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-public-domain-works/comment-page-1/#comment-52021 Geoff Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:35:43 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/04/23/what-are-the-bestworst-remixes-of-pub#comment-52021 One that I enjoy is Cheshire Crossing ( http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/ ), which is based on characters from The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. But I think one important area of the musical public domain is arrangements/transcriptions of works that either make use of uncommon or antique instruments so that they can be performed by modern ensembles, or are fragmentary and can therefore be finished. Oh, another story that's been on my mind lately is Sweeney Todd. Although the recently-released movie is based on the Stephen Sondheim musical, the story dates back much farther. Another area of successful utilization is, of course, Disney's animated features. Whatever you think of their work artistically, they have certainly been successful. One that I enjoy is Cheshire Crossing ( http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/ ), which is based on characters from The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins.

But I think one important area of the musical public domain is arrangements/transcriptions of works that either make use of uncommon or antique instruments so that they can be performed by modern ensembles, or are fragmentary and can therefore be finished.

Oh, another story that’s been on my mind lately is Sweeney Todd. Although the recently-released movie is based on the Stephen Sondheim musical, the story dates back much farther.

Another area of successful utilization is, of course, Disney’s animated features. Whatever you think of their work artistically, they have certainly been successful.

]]>