Copyright this!

Okay, so I've dedicated this site to posting projects of mine. Some are originals: compositions I've created for certain projects.  Some for school, some for friends, and some for fun.  These originals are fun to create and I appreciate artists that can sit and completely create something new...

...but I really like editing.  Taking the source material and remixing it to create something new... Something that someone will look at and appreciate the amount of effort it took to manipulate what they're used to in a different vision / style than the original.  It's also challenging to work on something to produce the desired effect, and do so in a fluid unassuming way.  To show someone your vision and have them enjoy it, commenting that it's professional and maybe even better than the original; creating a cohesive narrative from film that tells a different story; or writing something that is a tangent of the original story is really enjoyable for me.

The ability to edit is a talent...  And it's a talent that can't be shown in most media forums due to copyright infringement.  I'm not a lawyer.  I'm not someone who likes to read through technical jargon trying to find loop-holes.  I'm simply someone that enjoys expressing themselves through said talent, and I wish to share that content for my own enjoyment.  Not because I want you to download a free movie / song / picture / whatever, but I'm simply expressing my creativity!  Unfortunately due to the content owners, my creativity is often shunted.  I'm not someone who tries to find ways around copyright laws so I can get my content uploaded and bypass content matching algorithms.  I've posted music videos I've created where I say, "It's a tribute... Go buy the original artist's album / song!  It's terrific and inspired me to do this!"  I've never once claimed, "I created this!" or "Buy this from me, it's my original work!"  Yet, to take the original and change it to express yourself is considered 'wrong' in the eyes of copyright laws.  I ask you: How can someone that enjoys editing or altering film / pictures / songs ever be able to enjoy doing what they love if they can't get any feedback (positive or negative) about their work, because they aren't allowed to post it?

Furthermore, why does my edited content get copyright take-downs when I can do a search and find someone else posting the ORIGINAL UNALTERED content (such as a movie) which has more than 3 million views?  I once posted a music video containing Michael Jackson's Earth Song and scenes from Avatar, which was taken down after 235 views due to copyright infringement.  I did a search and found another video that had another song with scenes from Avatar that had 18,000 views and another that had more than 9 million views!  (Both of these music videos are still up!)  Furthermore, I tried to repost my video using the exact same tags / youtube license claim / description and it was taken down again after about 100 views.  For a long while I was so discouraged, I didn't post anything else.

I just finished creating a remix of a song.  I uploaded to soundcloud, which has grown significantly since I joined (a few accounts ago, granted).  Now it seems they're also shunting creativity by employing harsher copyright restrictions as well.  I put the remix of my song on my soundcloud page and it was immediately disabled do to copyright claim.  This is, of course, after I had +1ed and facebook-shared my latest little project, so users trying to access the song suddenly saw 'not found' & 'no longer available' errors.  I tried another service claiming to allow mixes and DJ remixes.  After uploading, I received an email saying the same thing.  After searching their site, I come across many... MANY songs that are not even edited.  They are the FULL VERSIONS of the songs uploaded, so other users may pirate them.

I totally understand that companies have to protect their investments.  They must earn money because that's what companies do.  But rather than taking down someone who is remixing / altering / fan-editing your content because they love it so much (and mostly tell people to go buy your stuff because it's great) why, then, does all this media exist where they are the original songs / films?  And those posts are CLEARLY aimed at people who want to AVOID giving you money, and getting said content for free?

In all my time editing, remixing, and fan-editing, I seem to always have my works taken down.  It's discouraging, to say the least.  If I upload to my own (free) hosting service, I run the risk of bandwidth limit breach and my site suspended.  If I upload to other sites and embed within this blog, I'm running the risk of it being taken down due to copyright claims.  Honestly, I just wanna have fun & manipulating / editing / altering stuff is fun for me, it's just annoying that I can't share my projects easily on any media outlet.  Apparently editors must produce their own content also.  Editors can't edit...  Copyright holders gunna copyright claims... Haters gunna hate.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Hooked on a Feeling [Remix by SpiderMitch]

This is a remix I created in tribute to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.  The trailer had a mix I really got into from Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede.  I created this as a full version of that mix, without voice-overs, base and extra samples added.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Click play below or View on my Youtube channel