‘Data, data, data, I can’t make bricks without clay.’
These are the words of Sherlock Holmes Copper Beach Adventurewritten by Sir Conan Doyle in 1892.
Even then it was recognized how important information is and, today, it is no different. We have never known how best to use the information available to us.
Protests are held for free education, despite classes, exams and certifications, education is never cheap.
It’s just a shame YouTube and public libraries can’t give you the title.
Strategic market targeting has never been easier and with the speed with which information can travel, business has never been more beneficial.
It is not surprising, the more I understand about how to upload this information that can be profitable.
That’s why every year, January 1 is so exciting. Because this is the date copyright-expired material enters the public domain.
Among the last of the Sherlock Holmes shorts, Hitchcock’s first thriller, The Lodgerand, by the way, even the song is called The Best Things in Life it’s free.
For many, this is only a matter of interest but it is an important one.
Not only does material entering the public domain give creators more to work with, but it also allows them to rework classic content for today.
When the BBC made a modern adaptation called Sherlock, after Benedict Cumberbatch’s character survived the fall in the series cliffhanger in 2012, the British spent two years speculating how the man managed to survive.
Hilariously, when the series returned in 2014, it trolled them by offering three options that could be ridiculous but there was no definitive answer.
Essentially the entire country was left on the edge of their seats for two years because of content that had been reincarnated from a concept that was over 100 years old.
Only if we tend to do little about it.
Imagine my excitement in 2017, when a duo in Cape Town reworked Brahms’ Hungarian dance classic #5 into a song called Get Wild, with Amy Tjasink.
To many, it may be just another song, but when I played it during an interview with an orchestra conductor during my radio days, he made a pertinent point: the rework captures something.
youth will not participate and create happiness for generations.
In other words, it brings attention to things that will be used too old to notice. This is an opportunity we must seize.
It’s no secret that the arts industry in South Africa is underfunded, so when free material is available, there’s no shame in grabbing it and using it.
And the international market has shown us how powerful adaptation can be. It’s just strange to me that when more and more free ideas come into the fold, we seem less and less.
Maybe we are still waiting for 2049 when we can start thinking about making a Venda version of James Bond, where he enters Casino Royale greet everyone with a gruff “Ndaa”.
I mean, Spiderman didn’t enter the public domain until 2058, but we’ve had it since the 80s
has Rabobi, so it is to show that adaptation can be good, we will be willing to pay the right.
You have to ask why we send rands abroad to pay for things when there are so many free options every year.