The Price to Defend a Creativity
In the long record of human evolution, our species is notably known as — what Linnaeus then described — a species who know themselves (nosce te ipsum). The rise of our intelligence is a mark on how internal factor (the self-consciousness and the physiological aspect such as the development of brain) and the external factor (such as environmental trigger) play a part side by side. As a result, by the increasing intelligence, our conscience is also developing (which I would not discount the role of external factor such as social norms and culture). We are not bound by an instinct only.
When it comes to growing intelligence, we cannot deny its influence on creativity. Although, we cannot judge that the more creative a person is, the higher intelligent one might be, but we can easily see the pattern on how creativity has its root on the intelligence of a human. However, what is a creativity?
Does creativity mean to do something out of the common standard?
Or, should creativity mean to do something out of the common standard?
Creativity might be much simpler to be defined that what we might think. Out of the notion on how we perceive what ‘a common standard’ is, creativity is deeply rooted on how a person exercises its freedom of thought and expression.
When we create something, we are not literally creating something out of nothing. As a species with growing conscience, we are such an observant creature. We observe the nature around us. We see, hear, and feel everything. These observing experiences are unique to each human. Thus, we might express our creativity in a sense that it will highly impossible to be similar to each other. For example, the pain of broken heart is universal among human, but the way and the depth of how each human express the pain might not be exactly the same.
This frame of thinking drives me to wonder what would I do to defend my creative work when someone claims it as theirs?
This is what happened with one of instrumental tracks that I created in the middle of pandemic in 2021. It is taken down by SoundCloud due to the copyright claim from a label, based in Europe. To put a context, I make music as a way to materialize what I have in mind. It is also as a way to escape of mundane routine mostly from work.
Out of the physical fatigue during the long hours of shift in the hospital, one of few sanctuaries is the time when I do anything with music. I play violin when I need ‘to brainstorm’. I make beats (an instrumental track) whenever I get ‘hit’ by the fleeting moment of creativity.
There is a layer of creativity in what I do with music which I always have a respect for any musicians that ‘immortally’ remain in my heavily curated playlists because it is not easy to create something. When I create beats, I create what I feel in that moment. Therefore, I rarely spend weeks to finish it, partly because I need to finish it as quickly as I could before ‘this air of creativity’ is vaporized and nowhere to be found.
When it comes to create instrumental track, people might have listened to a lot of samples and/or might have created instrumental parts. Later, as a way to polish the assembled parts and samples, people might do several edits such as adding effect, changing the pitch or key, adding or decreasing noise, etc.
What I do in creating a track is always started with what vibe and what melody that I would like to create. I listen to a lot of samples until I meet with several parts that hit the vibe and melody. Assembling and polishing are things that later come much faster because I know what kind of sounds that I want to make. Even if I want to, I cannot waste too much time it comes to create a track. I have to do it before my creativity spark and my motivation ‘run out’.
As soon as I finished that instrumental track, I did not need to think longer on how to name it. I simply named it, ‘Midnight March — Ep. 3’. It is the continuation of ‘my creative spark that only happened in a fleeting moment’. It is the personal reminder that marks the number of times I put an effort to materialize those sparks. It is what essentially defines ‘Midnight March’ which only so far lasts in three tracks.
Therefore, when I noticed that this track is taken down by SoundCloud due to the copyright claim of a label. I wonder if that label really gave an effort to listen to my track. Mine entirely sounds different to a track they claimed as theirs (that I found out in their Youtube). The only similar thing is the use of one free sample that they are not even the owner of that sample. Furthermore, the entire track sounds different than mine.
Although it might look easy for me to win the dispute, I might need to wait for unspecific length of time to get the result. Of course, this process needs to count the days that I need to look for the original file from 3 years ago, that I have to open and to screenshot the assembled parts as a proof that it is my work, indeed.
Think about it, a small account like me in SoundCloud, that only does music as an outlet of creativity and a way to escape from mundane routine of work during pandemic, why would I even think ‘to defend’ THAT FAR for the product of my creativity from such fleeting moment?
Why should I be THAT PARTY to prove the originality when SoundCloud can actually trace based on the time history of all tracks that I have uploaded?
Is it because I am just a small account that a label can mess up with?
Then, so be it, I will not waste my time to prove my own work when it is SoundCloud’s job to maintain the relevance of such copyright claim.
Yes, I am beyond bitter.
It takes such a ‘dedicated’ price, of time and effort, just to defend my creativity.
*p.s. Maybe, one day, when I have enough energy and time, I will get it back again. Until then, let me focus on my research prep to Sumbawa. If you (the label) read this, consider yourself lucky.
**p.p.s As I uploaded it around 2021 (yes during THAT pandemic), they released their track in 2023. And, do I even know this track, let alone this artist, in the first place? Bro, lo siapa?
