Coprights and Control: Friend or Foe?

After watching the film RIP! A Remix Manifesto By Brett Gaylor I have a few things I would like to discuss concerning 4 part thesis.
Does our culture build on the past?
When Brett says that our culture always builds on the past I partially agree. Sure, things like music, art, and literature all have ties back to the past. The Beatles stole cord progressions from the classical composer Brahms. Director Quentin Tarantino is inspired by many other older films. However, I now challenge you to look more closely at today's culture. The internet is obsessed with cats. Dubstep, the original music is from the past, but said base dropping is completely original. I agree with Brett but todays culture is not completely unoriginal.
The past controls the future?
I completely disagree with the concept that the past control the future. Maybe in a family the older person will control the younger people. But as a culture? No. That is not to say that the past has no influence. Look at the 90's it was full of grunge and bad cars. How does that define and control us. In the 90's the U.S.  was in debt and that was solved by raising taxes. We are once again in debt and we haven't yet raised tax. That shows that the past doesn't control us in the sense that we learn from our mistakes because we clearly don't. From an artistic point of view we may have learned from our mistakes if you look at the cars that were made. other than that we relive the same cultural phases a fair amount with some but not a lot of variation.
Our future is becoming less free?
We are becoming brainwashed animals with no free will, self-determination, and no education. we have no information.                Wrong          Everyday someone becomes more and more informed, thanks to the internet. Information is the pillar around which freedom is based. It's that simple. I see no way at all that as a people we are becoming less free.
We must limit the control of the past to become free.
Actually we must remember the past more for some freedom. For example, do you remember the time when the government watched all of our lives, read our emails and texts and things like that? Well if we remember that the next time we set up a massive unifying communication system we should be fine and free. Social speaking I see no way how we are not free.