Silvia’s poetic remix about the impact of gangs is complex and subtle - mixed to an instrumental of Dance with the Devil by Immortal TEchnique.

Ameenah and Aaisha’s video remixes source material from amateur videos and photographs documenting police brutality and aggression with Michael Jackson’s song Beat It.

This Political Remix Video is a critical, satirical and transformative work that constitutes a Fair Use in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

Prisca’s remix looks at popular culture portrayals of women as sexualized girls. Source material includes commercials, music videos and excerpts from a broad range of music genres.

A remix by Zane “The Limit” Scheuerlein. The source material includes the song Less Talk More Rock cut to video from YouTUbe of Bush, Cheney and other Republican officials responsible for the Iraq War atrocities. Documentaries about the Iraq War and the Palestenian conflicts are used to contrast the indifference of politicians to the suffering of the people in the Middle East.

This Political Remix Video is a critical, satirical and transformative work that constitutes a Fair Use in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

• Did the unlicensed use ‘transform’ the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original?
• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?

These are the questions that drive our remix work and they are taken directly from THE CODE OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE FOR ONLINE VIDEO. Published by the Center for Social Media at American University, this important document explains how and when remix is considered FAIR USE - the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances. The Code of Best Practices was drawn up by a distinguished panel of experts including Pat Aufderheide who has been skyping and advising us in the process.

Look for our posted remixes soon with explanations about how they apply to Fair Use!

Music: Less Talk More Rock by Freezepop.

Style: Dark Humor

Targets: U.S. Government

Issues: Mishandling of the Iraq War, treatment of the war by the government, brutality, the degradation of the Iraqi people.

FURI has launched! We began on Day One by trying to wrap our brains around the idea of copyright law, fair use, free speech and what all of that has to do with mixing and mashing our way to a freer youth culture. Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films came in to talk about the history of copyright and the importance of the fair use clause. Gordon recounted many of his experiences and struggles to use copyrighted material–for both intended and incidental use in his documentaries–and gave us “hot off the presses” copies of the new CODE OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE FOR ONLINE VIDEO published by the Center for Social Media. We discussed the moral and material interests of artists, which copyright was enacted to best preserve, and we dissected the myriad ways in which copyright can both stimulate and stifle creativity. On more practical levels, Gordon emphasized the importance of attribution when using copyrighted material, both in the credits of a work, and specifically in NOT blurring out any “bugs” or identifiers in our source material. We also dove into the notion of transformation, and both the legal and artistic implications of using copyrighted material in ways that transform it (or fail to do so) into something new and of our own authorship.

Then on Tuesday, Pat Aufderheide was Skyped in for a live video chat. Pat really picked up on the notion of transformative works, and also fielded several questions about copyright in other countries and the recent battle over copyright and court order with Viacom and Goolge/YouTube. Pat talked about her desire to see YouTube and other video platforms include elements from the Code of Best Practices into their notices and “takedown” emails, after their bots remove a user’s video that might be merely a re-posting of copywritten material, but that also might well be a transformative work that legitimately employs fair use. We will be checking in with Pat again later this week, after we digest this mighty manifesto some more.

Political Remix Artist, Jonathan McIntosh, showed and deconstructed examples of his own work. Jonathan also shared with us much of the source footage, and explained both his process and motivation in making his remixes.

Today, we begin creating our own critical music video remixes after watching several examples yesterday such as “George Bush Doesn’t Like Black People” and many others.

THE FAIR USE REMIX INSTITUTE
A project of: OPEN YOUTH NETWORKS
A program of: CHICAGO FILMMAKERS
Instructors: MINDY FABER AND JONATHAN MCINTOSH
Website: www.reminstitute.net

SYLLABUS
JULY 7-18 2008

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS: IMPACT ON YOUTH
I. Increased Understanding and Awareness of fundamental principles of copyright, intellectual property and the Fair Use Doctrine, and how these specifically apply to Video Remix and Youth Communication Rights.
II. Increased knowledge and skills in online video remix creation and sharing.
III. Increased ability to speak confidentially and fluently in public around issues of remix and fair use.
IV. Increased experience and use of web 2.0 applications for social and political networking and information access.
VII. Increased development of leadership skills in community based organizing work using technology.
VIII. Demonstrated ability to quote copyrighted material in order to analyze it, repurpose it and reframe it as a means of critical commentary.

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS: IMPACT ON AUDIENCE
I. Increased public understanding and awareness of: the relationship of remix to youth communication rights; the value of remix as a media literacy tool; the difference between remix and piracy; and the important perspectives and critical analyses of urban youth about issues that impact their lives.

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS: IMPACT ON ISSUES
I. Youth participate in public policy debates on remix as a cultural PRACTICE of youth relevant to their communication and First Amendment rights.
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES
I. FURI participants apply their digital knowledge to community organizational and school-based civic engagement, peer mobilizing and social change efforts.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
I. What is the difference between remix, political remix and piracy?
II. How does copyright protect us and when does it limit our freedom of speech?
III. What are the ethical as well as legal considerations that should guide our production process?
IV. What are the dominant narratives about youth and how can we use remix to rupture and transform those narratives?
V. Is remix an important cultural right for youth and if so, should youth be part of the policy debates around fair and flexible copyright and filtering laws?
VI. How does the process of producing remix impact your learning, critical thinking and political consciousness?

DAY ONE:
Goals: DEFINING OUR COLLECTIVE INQUIRY
1. Who are we, why are we here and what do we each bring to this enterprise? (PhotoTag and Blogging)
2. Why copyright, remix and fair use matters to youth? (Discussion)
3. Guest speaker: Gordon Quinn: How Copyright laws both protect and limit artists’ rights.
4. Assignment: Read Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video (handout)

DAY TWO:
Goals: WHAT ARE THE BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE FOR REMIX
1. Posting remixes to blog and tag sites (Deli.cio.us)
2. Present examples and group tag them according to style, content, form and genre.
3. Group Read and discussion of reading.
4. Break into groups to define questions for Pat.
5. Online Video Skype with Pat Aufderheide
6. End of Day BlogReflectionPost
7. Assignment: Research a song to remix on topics of safety or fear

DAY THREE:
Goals: THE PROCESS/PURPOSE OF REMIX: BEGIN THE THREAT OF YOUTH PROJECT
1. Tutorial: Stages of Production Overview (Identify Problem, Research, Script the Argument, Production, Editing and Distribution)
2. Identify the Problem: Group Concept Map on Youth Culture, media, fear and safety
3. Screen The Internet is a Series of Tubes
Reading: Youth Culture as Terrorist Threat
Screening: The Boston Bomb Scare
Screening: Lawrence Lessig TedTalk on Remix
4. Locate source footage and beats (archive.org, remix America, united streaming, Creative Commons)
5. Blogreflection post

DAY FOUR:
Goals: FROM TEXT TO SUBTEXT: REMIX AS TRANSFORMATION
1. TUTORIAL: How to rip and download media files, set up FCP Project and import files into FCP.
2. Log, name, sort and trim clips. Laydown soundtrack.
3. Transcribe the source footage and create three lyrical phrasings and a chorus
4. Begin laying down images to sound track.
5. Blogreflection post

DAY FIVE:
Goals: POLITICAL HAIKU COMPLETION AND MASHUPS
1. Complete editing. Upload to Blip or YouTube
2. Viewing and Discussion and Blogging
3. The Obstacle Course: A vigorous physical interactive game for identifying obstacles and solutions
4. Weekend Work: Prepare a teach-in about an issue impacting your community for Collective Intelligence Day

DAY SIX:
Goals: COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE DAY
1. What are the dominant narratives and the untold stories about youth and the issues that impact your communities and lives.
2. View: George Bush Doesn’t Like Black People, Reverend Wright remix, Beyond Beats and Rhymes and others.
3. Conceptualization and planning of final project
4. Blogging

DAYS SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE AND TEN:
1. View the various genres and techniques of remix for inspiration.
2. Conceptualize and script final projects
3. Work in progress peer critiques
4. Tutorials on Kaltura, Remix America final cut prop advanced techniques (green screen, compositing, superimposition, filters and split screen)
5. Planning future screenings and advocacy