We are a culture grown fat and rich off its own cultural products Not really, you can't actually make new works of art based on old works of art, since copyrig

We are a culture grown fat and rich off its own cultural products Not really, you can't actually make new works of art based on old works of art, since copyright forbids that. Technically you can, but they have to have been released before 1920 and that date will never change. You will never, ever be able to use Mickey Mouse in your own cartoon and you will never ever be able to take a sample from an earlier song and put it in yours without paying to whoever happens to own the license for it.