Remixing in the Field of Law

Hello everyone,

Today I consider the concept of remixing as it applies to our professional field- the world of law. I believe that in the legal field, remixing is a concept taken seriously, yet is not something viewed as quite a threat. What this statement mans is that many professionals in our field tend to be very familiar with the laws surrounding Copyright, and if not, are exposed to the resources necessary to become educated on this topic. In a field where law is the main focus, not many professionals tend to feel threatened by the understanding of these laws. We, as well as people in other professional fields, must be very conscious of re-using the materials of others. Composing is impacted by the idea of re-use in many different ways. I believe that composing focuses on the creation of something original and individual to the creator. Because of this definition, I believe that re-using material in order to create a new composition does not constitute stealing, as long as permission has been given from the original owner. I believe that when re-used material is utilized in a way where the end product is quite different than the original intention, an entirely new piece has been composed. In other words, re-using material can contribute to the creation of an entirely unique and unrelated piece because it has been utilized in an entirely different way. In our professional community, we tend to see forms of remix and assemblage in filings. While many firms utilize similar templates for filings in order to get a specific point across, these filings differ in many small aspects. For example, two law firms may have their own motions specific to that firm that get the same point across and even utilize some of the same verbiage. While this is true, these two filings likely will have at least a slight difference in formatting. There may be an extra space between a header and the body of the filing, or the signature of the attorney may include more information below than the alternative filing. To me, this can be viewed as a form of remix. They are two consistent ideas that have been altered to be unique to each firm. Laws, such as Copyright and Fair Use, play heavily into our professional field, as they guide us as to what existing information may be used or not used. We should be guided in ethically using texts by the laws of our respective communities and societies. By referencing the laws that apply to us, we may ethically re-use information within our field.