Since I was not able to stick around for the end of "Sonic Outlaws," and
therefore missed the after-show interviews that you guys were doing, I
figured I'd email in my comments. If this is the wrong place to send this
stuff, please forward it or let me know where I should send it.
I saw the first hour of the movie, and thought it was pretty bad overall. I
liked the idea of the movie very much, but it had poor quality production
and way too little information. There was a short piece of the movie that
talked about how the current copyright laws were adapted from ideas from the
19th century, and I thought that was interesting... that's the kind of stuff
I would have liked to see/hear more of. Also, anything related to more
current technologies, like internet distribution of copyrighted works, and
digital sampling... the examples in the movie dealt with photocopiers and
tape splicers instead of anything digital.
Favorite parts: the guys who change the messages on billboards, and the guys
who said they have a trademark on the word plagiarism (wasn't that the Tape
Beatles?)
Least favorite part: the guy who sampled all the Reagan speeches, then got
mad that Fine Young Cannibals stole his stolen work without asking his
permission. He didn't ask Reagan for permission! It seemed kinda stupid
that someone would talk about how he should have the right to sample from
speeches and songs, and then attack someone else who samples from him.
Overall, it seemed more like a biography of Negativland and their legal
problems than anything else. I guess the whole movie was supposed to be
assembled in the format of a "video collage," and that's a neat idea, but
they could have made it LOOK and SOUND a hell of a lot better. My rating: D