Remix culture

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Remix culture is a term employed by Lawrence Lessig and other copyright activists to describe a society which allows and encourages derivative works. Such a culture would be, by default, permissive of efforts to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix the work of copyright holders. Lessig presents this as a desirable ideal and argues, among other things, that the health, progress, and wealth creation of a culture is fundamentally tied to this participatory remix process.

Sampling in musicmaking is a prime example of reuse, and hip-hop culture's implicit acceptance of the practice makes it a remix culture.

This term is often contrasted with permission culture.

Lessig is now using the term 'Read/write culture' to refer to broadly the same thing and 'Read only culture' to refer to a permission based culture. He has been queried as to his reliance on a binary opposite rather than a spectrum of permissions but this he explains is his way to broadcast this message to a mainstream audience.

Author Ramsay Wood argues that the fables in The Panchatantra are the oldest known example of remix culture.