Google :: Copyright :: World Brain…what does it all mean?

I consider Sundance a nice warm-up to SXSW.  In doing some research about what’s playing and who/what we’ll be hearing about in the next week I found something that has fascinated me.  It’s a documentary called “Google and The World Brain.” 

There are several layers to the filmmaker’s synopsis:  copyrights for authors (can’t help but compare this to musicians) as well as the right to access of information vs. the monopoly of information.  I’ve long been a Google fan, but with the latest change to their search algorithm their stock has plummeted (in my book).  If the trailer intrigues you, definitely make a point to read a Q&A with the filmmaker over on IndieWire.    Ben Lewis has had a pretty broad view of the world throughout his career.  He claims the message of his film is ‘Down with technoutopianism!'”  Huh.  I think I just added a new word to my vocabulary!

Now I’m off to search for a copy of H. G. Wells’ “World Brain.”