Adam Ross has written up an interesting essay on Internet culture, copyright law, SOPA, and differing visions of culture. He contrasts a passive, consumer, culture (advocated by media conglomerates) and an active, productive, remix culture “which allows the freedom for a genuine folk culture to develop once again.”:
“Which vision comes closer to actual culture? As Christians we must begin with Scripture. In Scripture, life is imitation, copying. We are called to imitate (or copy) Christ (John 13:15) and the apostles who imitate Christ (2 Thess 3:7,9; Heb. 13:7; ); Christ is himself the very imitation or copy of the Father (Heb. 1:3). We reproduce by making copies (Gen. 5:3), imitating or copying God in the creation (Gen. 1:26). Trinitarian life is imitation, is copying, as each member of the Trinity copies the others (John 12:49; 16:13). Trinitarian life is collaborative, a sharing culture within the Godhead.”
While I certainly agree that US copyright law is profoundly flawed, primarily because of the substantial influence of powerful media corporations, I’m less sure that remix culture is the heart of a genuine folk culture. And I’m not convinced that it is accurate to use the Trinity as the basis for just copyright law. Regardless, this is an important issue for Christians to wrestle with. As I’ve said before, if we take Romans 13 seriously, then we need to fight for laws that are reasonable and just, rather than counter-intuitive, convoluted, and harmful.
