1
00:00:00,758 --> 00:00:04,049
We're going to begin in 1964.

2
00:00:04,049 --> 00:00:07,022
Bob Dylan is 23 years old, and his career

3
00:00:07,022 --> 00:00:09,183
is just reaching its pinnacle.

4
00:00:09,183 --> 00:00:11,624
He's been christened the voice of a generation,

5
00:00:11,624 --> 00:00:14,084
and he's churning out classic songs

6
00:00:14,084 --> 00:00:16,047
at a seemingly impossible rate,

7
00:00:16,047 --> 00:00:20,498
but there's a small minority of dissenters, and they claim

8
00:00:20,498 --> 00:00:24,237
that Bob Dylan is stealing other people's songs.

9
00:00:24,237 --> 00:00:28,377
2004. Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse,

10
00:00:28,377 --> 00:00:30,290
takes the Beatles' "White Album,"

11
00:00:30,290 --> 00:00:32,067
combines it with Jay-Z's "The Black Album"

12
00:00:32,067 --> 00:00:33,891
to create "The Grey Album."

13
00:00:33,891 --> 00:00:35,810
"The Grey Album" becomes an immediate sensation online,

14
00:00:35,810 --> 00:00:38,570
and the Beatles' record company sends out countless

15
00:00:38,570 --> 00:00:41,810
cease-and-desist letters for "unfair competition

16
00:00:41,810 --> 00:00:45,691
and dilution of our valuable property."

17
00:00:45,691 --> 00:00:47,683
Now, "The Grey Album" is a remix.

18
00:00:47,683 --> 00:00:50,080
It is new media created from old media.

19
00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,665
It was made using these three techniques:

20
00:00:52,665 --> 00:00:55,907
copy, transform and combine.

21
00:00:55,907 --> 00:00:57,829
It's how you remix. You take existing songs,

22
00:00:57,829 --> 00:00:59,549
you chop them up, you transform the pieces,

23
00:00:59,549 --> 00:01:01,389
you combine them back together again,

24
00:01:01,389 --> 00:01:03,366
and you've got a new song, but that new song

25
00:01:03,366 --> 00:01:06,100
is clearly comprised of old songs.

26
00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:09,413
But I think these aren't just the components of remixing.

27
00:01:09,413 --> 00:01:12,457
I think these are the basic elements of all creativity.

28
00:01:12,457 --> 00:01:14,268
I think everything is a remix,

29
00:01:14,268 --> 00:01:18,959
and I think this is a better way to conceive of creativity.

30
00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,952
All right, let's head back to 1964, and let's hear

31
00:01:21,952 --> 00:01:24,973
where some of Dylan's early songs came from.

32
00:01:24,973 --> 00:01:26,850
We'll do some side-by-side comparisons here.

33
00:01:26,850 --> 00:01:28,056
All right, this first song you're going to hear

34
00:01:28,056 --> 00:01:30,470
is "Nottamun Town." It's a traditional folk tune.

35
00:01:30,470 --> 00:01:33,051
After that, you'll hear Dylan's "Masters of War."

36
00:01:33,058 --> 00:01:37,958
Jean Ritchie: ♫ In Nottamun Town, not a soul would look out, ♫


37
00:01:37,958 --> 00:01:44,556
♫ not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down. ♫

38
00:01:44,556 --> 00:01:48,830
Bob Dylan: ♫ Come you masters of war, ♫

39
00:01:48,830 --> 00:01:57,435
♫ you that build the big guns, you that build the death planes, ♫

40
00:01:57,435 --> 00:02:00,504
♫ You that build all the bombs. ♫

41
00:02:00,504 --> 00:02:02,426
Kirby Ferguson: Okay, so that's the same basic melody

42
00:02:02,426 --> 00:02:05,585
and overall structure. This next one is "The Patriot Game,"

43
00:02:05,585 --> 00:02:07,577
by Dominic Behan. Alongside that,

44
00:02:07,577 --> 00:02:09,851
you're going to hear "With God on Our Side," by Dylan.

45
00:02:09,851 --> 00:02:15,109
Dominic Behan: ♫ Come all ye young rebels, ♫

46
00:02:15,109 --> 00:02:19,639
♫ and list while I sing, ♫

47
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:27,851
♫ for the love of one's land is a terrible thing. ♫

48
00:02:27,851 --> 00:02:33,663
BD: ♫ Oh my name it is nothin', ♫

49
00:02:33,663 --> 00:02:38,191
♫ my age it means less, ♫

50
00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:45,010
♫ the country I come from is called the Midwest. ♫

51
00:02:45,010 --> 00:02:46,636
KF: Okay, so in this case, Dylan admits

52
00:02:46,636 --> 00:02:49,076
he must have heard "The Patriot Game," he forgot about it,

53
00:02:49,076 --> 00:02:50,635
then when the song kind of bubbled back up

54
00:02:50,635 --> 00:02:52,946
in his brain, he just thought it was his song.

55
00:02:52,946 --> 00:02:54,178
Last one, this is "Who's Going To Buy You Ribbons,"

56
00:02:54,178 --> 00:02:55,738
another traditional folk tune.

57
00:02:55,738 --> 00:02:58,035
Alongside that is "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

58
00:02:58,035 --> 00:02:59,860
This one's more about the lyric.

59
00:02:59,860 --> 00:03:06,751
Paul Clayton: ♫ It ain't no use to sit and sigh now, ♫

60
00:03:06,751 --> 00:03:14,615
♫ darlin', and it ain't no use to sit and cry now. ♫

61
00:03:14,615 --> 00:03:20,560
BD: ♫ It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe, ♫

62
00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,212
♫ if you don't know by now, ♫

63
00:03:24,212 --> 00:03:29,603
♫ and it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, ♫


64
00:03:29,603 --> 00:03:32,490
♫ it'll never do somehow. ♫

65
00:03:32,490 --> 00:03:34,762
KF: Okay, now, there's a lot of these.

66
00:03:34,762 --> 00:03:36,776
It's been estimated that two thirds of the melodies

67
00:03:36,776 --> 00:03:39,319
Dylan used in his early songs were borrowed.

68
00:03:39,319 --> 00:03:41,175
This is pretty typical among folk singers.

69
00:03:41,175 --> 00:03:43,538
Here's the advice of Dylan's idol, Woody Guthrie.

70
00:03:43,538 --> 00:03:45,068
"The worlds are the important thing.

71
00:03:45,068 --> 00:03:46,900
Don't worry about tunes. Take a tune,

72
00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:48,576
sing high when they sing low,

73
00:03:48,576 --> 00:03:51,784
sing fast when they sing slow, and you've got a new tune."

74
00:03:51,784 --> 00:03:55,781
(Laughter) (Applause)

75
00:03:55,781 --> 00:03:57,728
And that's, that's what Guthrie did right here,

76
00:03:57,728 --> 00:04:00,335
and I'm sure you all recognize the results.

77
00:04:00,335 --> 00:04:06,252
(Music)

78
00:04:06,252 --> 00:04:08,647
We know this tune, right? We know it?

79
00:04:08,647 --> 00:04:10,060
Actually you don't.

80
00:04:10,060 --> 00:04:12,744
That is "When the World's on Fire," a very old melody,

81
00:04:12,744 --> 00:04:15,005
in this case performed by the Carter Family.

82
00:04:15,005 --> 00:04:17,683
Guthrie adapted it into "This Land Is Your Land."

83
00:04:17,683 --> 00:04:22,003
So, Bob Dylan, like all folk singers, he copied melodies,

84
00:04:22,003 --> 00:04:24,725
he transformed them, he combined them with new lyrics

85
00:04:24,725 --> 00:04:27,122
which were frequently their own concoction

86
00:04:27,122 --> 00:04:29,383
of previous stuff.

87
00:04:29,383 --> 00:04:33,046
Now, American copyright and patent laws run counter

88
00:04:33,046 --> 00:04:35,769
to this notion that we build on the work of others.

89
00:04:35,769 --> 00:04:38,436
Instead, these laws and laws around the world

90
00:04:38,436 --> 00:04:42,158
use the rather awkward analogy of property.

91
00:04:42,158 --> 00:04:44,601
Now, creative works may indeed be kind of like property,

92
00:04:44,601 --> 00:04:46,910
but it's property that we're all building on,

93
00:04:46,910 --> 00:04:49,399
and creations can only take root and grow

94
00:04:49,399 --> 00:04:52,115
once that ground has been prepared.

95
00:04:52,115 --> 00:04:54,961
Henry Ford once said, "I invented nothing new.

96
00:04:54,961 --> 00:04:56,964
I simply assembled the discoveries of other men

97
00:04:56,964 --> 00:04:59,551
behind whom were centuries of work.

98
00:04:59,551 --> 00:05:01,934
Progress happens when all the factors that make for it

99
00:05:01,934 --> 00:05:05,964
are ready and then it is inevitable."

100
00:05:05,964 --> 00:05:10,509
2007. The iPhone makes it debut.

101
00:05:10,509 --> 00:05:13,176
Apple undoubtedly brings this innovation to us early,

102
00:05:13,176 --> 00:05:15,673
but its time was approaching because its core technology

103
00:05:15,673 --> 00:05:17,719
had been evolving for decades.

104
00:05:17,719 --> 00:05:19,701
That's multi-touch, controlling a device

105
00:05:19,701 --> 00:05:21,478
by touching its display.

106
00:05:21,478 --> 00:05:23,897
Here is Steve Jobs introducing multi-touch

107
00:05:23,897 --> 00:05:26,137
and making a rather foreboding joke.

108
00:05:26,137 --> 00:05:28,940
Steve Jobs: And we have invented a new technology

109
00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:31,200
called multi-touch.

110
00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,653
You can do multi-fingered gestures on it,

111
00:05:33,653 --> 00:05:37,264
and boy have we patented it. (Laughter)

112
00:05:37,264 --> 00:05:41,430
KF: Yes. And yet, here is multi-touch in action.

113
00:05:41,430 --> 00:05:43,451
This is at TED, actually, about a year earlier.

114
00:05:43,451 --> 00:05:45,919
This is Jeff Han, and, I mean, that's multi-touch.

115
00:05:45,919 --> 00:05:47,670
It's the same animal, at least.

116
00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:49,437
Let's hear what Jeff Han has to say about this

117
00:05:49,437 --> 00:05:51,263
newfangled technology.

118
00:05:51,263 --> 00:05:53,431
Jeff Han: Multi-touch sensing isn't anything --

119
00:05:53,431 --> 00:05:55,637
isn't completely new. I mean, people like Bill Buxton

120
00:05:55,637 --> 00:05:57,286
have been playing around with it in the '80s.

121
00:05:57,286 --> 00:06:00,485
The technology, you know, isn't the most exciting thing here

122
00:06:00,485 --> 00:06:03,547
right now other than probably its newfound accessibility.

123
00:06:03,547 --> 00:06:05,480
KF: So he's pretty frank about it not being new.

124
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,023
So it's not multi-touch as a whole that's patented.

125
00:06:08,023 --> 00:06:10,160
It's the small parts of it that are,

126
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:11,464
and it's in these small details where

127
00:06:11,464 --> 00:06:14,582
we can clearly see patent law contradicting its intent:

128
00:06:14,582 --> 00:06:17,743
to promote the progress of useful arts.

129
00:06:17,743 --> 00:06:20,927
Here is the first ever slide-to-unlock.

130
00:06:20,927 --> 00:06:23,796
That is all there is to it. Apple has patented this.

131
00:06:23,796 --> 00:06:26,608
It's a 28-page software patent, but I will summarize

132
00:06:26,608 --> 00:06:30,544
what it covers. Spoiler alert: Unlocking your phone

133
00:06:30,544 --> 00:06:33,481
by sliding an icon with your finger. (Laughter)

134
00:06:33,481 --> 00:06:36,498
I'm only exaggerating a little bit. It's a broad patent.

135
00:06:36,498 --> 00:06:39,347
Now, can someone own this idea?

136
00:06:39,347 --> 00:06:41,777
Now, back in the '80s, there were no software patents,

137
00:06:41,777 --> 00:06:44,938
and it was Xerox that pioneered the graphical user interface.

138
00:06:44,938 --> 00:06:47,856
What if they had patented pop-up menus,

139
00:06:47,856 --> 00:06:52,280
scrollbars, the desktop with icons that look like folders

140
00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,267
and sheets of paper?

141
00:06:54,267 --> 00:06:56,616
Would a young and inexperienced Apple

142
00:06:56,616 --> 00:06:59,485
have survived the legal assault from a much larger

143
00:06:59,485 --> 00:07:03,565
and more mature company like Xerox?

144
00:07:03,565 --> 00:07:06,012
Now, this idea that everything is a remix might sound

145
00:07:06,012 --> 00:07:10,139
like common sense until you're the one getting remixed.

146
00:07:10,139 --> 00:07:11,789
For example ...

147
00:07:11,789 --> 00:07:13,028
SJ: I mean, Picasso had a saying.

148
00:07:13,028 --> 00:07:16,585
He said, "Good artists copy. Great artists steal."

149
00:07:16,585 --> 00:07:18,907
And we have, you know,

150
00:07:18,907 --> 00:07:22,035
always been shameless about stealing great ideas.

151
00:07:22,035 --> 00:07:23,933
KF: Okay, so that's in '96. Here's in 2010.

152
00:07:23,933 --> 00:07:26,842
"I'm going to destroy Android because it's a stolen product."

153
00:07:26,842 --> 00:07:28,384
(Laughter)

154
00:07:28,384 --> 00:07:32,023
"I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." (Laughter)

155
00:07:32,023 --> 00:07:35,527
Okay, so in other words, great artists steal, but not from me.

156
00:07:35,527 --> 00:07:37,878
(Laughter)

157
00:07:37,878 --> 00:07:41,486
Now, behavioral economists might refer to this sort of thing as loss aversion

158
00:07:41,486 --> 00:07:43,705
We have a strong predisposition towards protecting

159
00:07:43,705 --> 00:07:45,634
what we feel is ours.

160
00:07:45,634 --> 00:07:47,552
We have no such aversion towards copying

161
00:07:47,552 --> 00:07:50,285
what other people have, because we do that nonstop.

162
00:07:50,285 --> 00:07:52,760
So here's the sort of equation we're looking at.

163
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,417
We've got laws that fundamentally treat creative works as property,

164
00:07:55,417 --> 00:07:58,202
plus massive rewards or settlements

165
00:07:58,202 --> 00:08:00,399
in infringement cases, plus huge legal fees

166
00:08:00,399 --> 00:08:02,062
to protect yourself in court,

167
00:08:02,062 --> 00:08:05,566
plus cognitive biases against perceived loss.

168
00:08:05,566 --> 00:08:07,709
And the sum looks like this.

169
00:08:07,709 --> 00:08:10,532
That is the last four years of lawsuits

170
00:08:10,532 --> 00:08:13,098
in the realm of smartphones.

171
00:08:13,098 --> 00:08:18,869
Is this promoting the progress of useful arts?

172
00:08:18,869 --> 00:08:24,637
1983. Bob Dylan is 42 years old, and his time

173
00:08:24,637 --> 00:08:27,963
in the cultural spotlight is long since past.

174
00:08:27,963 --> 00:08:30,572
He records a song called "Blind Willie McTell,"

175
00:08:30,572 --> 00:08:32,758
named after the blues singer, and the song

176
00:08:32,758 --> 00:08:36,428
is a voyage through the past, through a much darker time,

177
00:08:36,428 --> 00:08:39,578
but a simpler one, a time when musicians like Willie McTell

178
00:08:39,578 --> 00:08:42,098
had few illusions about what they did.

179
00:08:42,098 --> 00:08:44,348
"I jump 'em from other writers

180
00:08:44,348 --> 00:08:46,913
but I arrange 'em my own way."

181
00:08:46,913 --> 00:08:48,630
I think this is mostly what we do.

182
00:08:48,630 --> 00:08:51,996
Our creativity comes from without, not from within.

183
00:08:51,996 --> 00:08:54,917
We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another,

184
00:08:54,917 --> 00:08:57,742
and admitting this to ourselves isn't an embrace

185
00:08:57,742 --> 00:09:00,576
of mediocrity and derivativeness.

186
00:09:00,576 --> 00:09:03,209
It's a liberation from our misconceptions,

187
00:09:03,209 --> 00:09:06,292
and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves

188
00:09:06,292 --> 00:09:09,027
and to simply begin.

189
00:09:09,027 --> 00:09:11,977
Thank you so much. It was an honor to be here.

190
00:09:11,977 --> 00:09:14,754
Thank you. (Applause)

191
00:09:14,754 --> 00:09:18,138
Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)

192
00:09:18,138 --> 00:09:21,479
Thank you. (Applause)