Tupac

“Fair use is the part of copyright law that permits new makers, in some situations, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying the owners. The courts tell us that fair use should be "transformative"--adding value to what they take and using it for a purpose different from the original work.”- http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use/best-practices/online-video/recut-reframe-recycle  

This statement above is very informative and it makes sense. There are lots of mash ups online and in documentaries due to this Fair Use law. As the article in the Center for Social Media mentions, individual do not need consent from the owners. This is also a reason why there is so much mash ups on Tupac. 

Growing up in the middle of Los Angeles, I have always thought of Tupac as the Shakespeare of the Ghetto.  The documentary, Tupac: Resurrection is great mash-up style that flowed very well. Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur is the executive producer so that is instant credibility to the film. Who else would know him more than his own mother? The film included private photographs, poetry, and journals which helped bind things together; this is one reason why the mash-up was successful. 

Tupac has inspired a lot of people from all walks of life to do poetry. Youth Speaks is wonderful and power organization that provide youth from all over the world to participate in change through spoken-word and hip hop. 

“At Youth Speaks, the voices of youth matter. Committed to a critical, youth-centered pedagogy, Youth Speaks places young people in control of their intellectual and artistic development. We are urgently driven by the belief that literacy is a need, not a want, and that literacy comes in various forms.”

Some of my friends are member of youth speaks and I see remarkable transformation that they go through. Their words are their source or strength and it is also a way to connect with the world. This is similar to what Tupac was saying in the documentary. He said that when he writes his poetry he is trying to connect with the person who is in the ghetto and is “thug life” (the kid in poverty that is experiencing the pain first hand). He says he is reaching out to that person.