In the “Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagarism” by Jonathan Letham, he discusses the definition of copyright over time and how today it has affected the culture industry. Artists are typically brought to their own gifts in art through discovering the work of someone who is already a master of it. It was interesting when Letham quoted, “Finding one’s voice isn’t just an emptying and purifying oneself of the words of others but an adopting and embracing of filiations, communities, and discourses. ” As by us being inspired by others artwork, we are able to take what we’ve learned from their art and turn it into art from our own unique perspective.
Although, copyright is leaving our art and culture with a stagnation in growth. Thomas Jefferson believed it was a “necessary evil,” as nowadays it’s almost impossible to regulate technology and media. The culture industry can no longer control the use of its art. For example, he even explains how Disney (with a very extreme situation with their levity in copyright laws) has taken inspiration from past artists like Shakespeare. With no regulation on this, generations are now forced with responding to the “same mixture of intoxication, resentment, lust, and glee that characterizes all artistic successors.” In turn, by reproducing and copying ideas off of each other’s art, we are only making the world smaller and never growing our culture to something more. In my perspective while I think this is very true, I do believe that if we make copyright more strict, then it will limit the inspiration given to artists now. There would be less of. culture industry if we aren’t allowed to be creative with the work of others.
Lethan also goes into the commons of a language and how it isn’t the community in which owns something, but the people as a whole. It is owned by nobody. I question what he actually means by this and if this is considered a bad or positive aspect of the culture industry. After reading this, I now question whether todays copyright situation is actually beneficial to the culture industry or if it is actually hurting it, making it more and more just a reproduction of the past.