Remix has emerged as a significant form of creativity, enabled by digital tools that allow the reinterpretation of existing cultural artifacts. However, the implications of remix on concepts of authorship remain largely unexamined. Therefore, this study examines children's remix experiences to understand how they develop their understanding of authorship and creativity. We conducted six participatory design sessions with 16 children aged 5–11 using the Cooperative Inquiry method to explore how their remix practices shape our understanding of creativity and authorship. Our findings reveal that children perceive remixing as a negotiated, interpretive process that influences their views on ownership within collaborative, digital spaces. Consequently, we introduce the Creative Agency Framework to help designers recognize ingrained beliefs about creative ownership and reuse in software. We conclude by discussing the significance of these beliefs for developing creativity support systems that empower children and users to identify as both creators and cultural producers.
ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems