Larry Lessig explains how creativity is being strangled by the law:
Larry Lessig gets TEDsters to their feet, whooping and whistling, for this elegant presentation of “three stories and an argument.” The Net’s most adored lawyer brings together John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights, and the “ASCAP cartel” to build a case for creative freedom. He pins down the key shortcomings of our dusty, pre-digital intellectual property laws, and reveals how bad laws beget bad code. Then, in an homage to cutting-edge artistry, he throws in some of the most hilarious remixes you’ve ever seen.
Incidentally, I never knew that Piero Umiliani originally composed “Mah Nà Mah Nà” for the movie Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso &mdash which was “a pseudo-documentary about sexuality in Sweden” showing “contraceptives for teen girls, lesbian nightclubs, wife swapping, porno movies, biker gangs, and Walpurgis Night celebrations.” I think I’ll stick to the Muppet version:
You can, by the way, find the Svezia Inferno E Paradiso soundtrack in MP3 format on Amazon. Naturally they sell Mah Nà Mah Nà as a single, too.
Again, I enjoy the Muppet version.