“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.”

We looked at the debate over intellectual property concerning the appropriation of media for new purposes, especially that of music and the rising popularity of remixes. The question is should the remixes be considered their own original material and treated as such, or be considered a rip-off of the media it was appropriated from and thus be subject to copyrighting laws. The cult value of the song, no matter how popular in the past, has become one of the resources available for manipulation in the century of information transfer, due to the sheer ease of information sharing. The song we listened to in class was a remix of many songs, and is a good example of what can be created today.