*Spoiler Alert*
All of this talk about copyright law reminds me of the movie Be Kind Rewind. The basic premise is that all of the VHS tapes from a video rental store are erased. One loyal customer insists on seeing Ghostbusters, so to make her happy, Jerry and Mike make their own version of the film. Soon, others find out about their movie, and the two start remaking everything from Robocop to the Lion King. Here’s the YouTube version of Robocop:
Soon the whole town is helping to make these movies. But eventually, the FBI gets wind of this and Jerry and Mike then find themselves in trouble because of copyright infringement, even though their films are not remakes of the originals (again, see Robocop). I thought Be Kind Rewind was a great movie that touches on the thorny issues we discussed in class.
But another thing that Be Kind Rewind encourages is user generated content through “sweding” movies. “Sweded” is the term Mike and Jerry come up with for their parodies. It’s been awhile since I saw the movie, so I had to pull the exact definition off of Wikipedia: “These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene. The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times [within the movie].” After the movie was released, it encouraged people to Swede their own movies. Unfortunately, one of the funniest ones (Star Wars: a Card Board Hope) is no longer available on YouTube, so here’s one of my other favourites (the Princess Bride Sweded in 5 Minutes):
An Acquaintance with Letters 