To what extent can a thing be an advertisement for itself? It’s an old copyright debate and one generally lost by consumers, but one red-hot in these here days of internetting, when you can have a thing quite easily digitally, with no physical – or financial – intrusion. And this ease of access can quite suddenly make absolutely anything very, very popular in no time at all. Like, say Rebecca Black, who has most likely turned her negative internet meme into a lucrative career making (terrible) music. Or this book, Go the Fuck To Sleep, which went viral in PDF form and now sits at the top of the Amazon best-seller list. Fast Company blames the PDF for that, which seems fair.
