Are we all pirates?

Throughout today’s new age digital society, the current buzz circulating from within the Internet world relates to the rising popularity of ‘mashups’ and ‘remixes’ in the music industry. According to O’Brien & Fitzgerald (2006), ‘we now inhibit a ‘remix culture’, a culture that is dominated by amateur creators who are no longer willing to be merely passive receptors of content, instead demanding the right to mashup and remix material and take on the role of producers.’ In other words, it has become a common practice throughout the music industry to take on the role of producing a piece of work by embedding songs from other producers into their work and claiming it as their own, this practice is referred to producing a 'mashup' or 'remix'. 

Video source: Youtube "Remixes of 2013"

           

Due to this ever-growing and expanding ‘remix culture’, the world of intellectual property law has become extremely relevant and of high importance to musicians, DJs and producers who sample the material of other artists. Copyright violation can include actions such as the illegal copying and/or distribution of a song, playing or remixing a song without having first gained the required permission, or simply failing to give the appropriate credit to the possessor of a song. A common form of copyright violation takes place in the process of ‘music sampling’, which also encompasses a vast variety of legal ramifications. According to Erickson (2011), music sampling is ‘the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song.’ Music sampling is utilised throughout a diverse range of genres in order to enhance the sound and variety of instruments used, which results in the song reaching an array of audiences, each carrying a variety of music style preferences. I know that in my personal experience with remixes and mashups, there has always been a style or a genre that music remixes cover which reaches out to a majority of people, including myself and my friends who share in a vast array of diverse genres. 

  

A popular example of a copyright infringement case which includes the practice of music sampling involves British band ‘The Verve’ featuring the orchestral version of the Rolling Stone’s song, ‘The Last Time’, in the introduction of one of their most famous songs ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’. Originally, The Verve negotiated a license to include a sample from their orchestral version, however, The Rolling Stones successfully argued that The Verve had in fact, used ‘too much’ of the sample, and the songs were now far too similar. The matter was eventually settled, with the royalties and the copyright of the song going towards The Rolling Stones. In my personal opinion, there is a way that other artists can sample songs without having to violate copyright laws. I believe that because The Verve were originally given permission to use a sample from The Rolling Stones, they should have had the consent to do whatever they pleased with the sample in order to enhance the quality of their song.

                                                Video source: Youtube, "The Verve vs. The Rolling Stones"

Another issue relating to copyright violation is the illegal downloading and file sharing of media content. According to Martin, Moore & Salter (2010),’the sharing of music files has been the focus of a massive struggle between representatives of major record companies and artists in the music industry’. This relates to actions ranging from either downloading or streaming media content, to remixing or sampling music without first gaining the required permission. The dominance of illegally downloading and streaming media content has stemmed from the development of the Internet and the desire to obtain files fast and free. In my personal opinion, I believe that file sharing and illegally downloading media content has had an enormous effect on the media industry in terms of profit, and artists having unfinished demos of their songs ‘leaked’ before their official release date. This form of copyright violation needs to be controlled in an extremely more effectively manner than it has been.

References

O’Brien, Damien and Fitzgerald, Brian (2006), Mashups, remixes and copyright law,

Internet Law Bulletin 9 (2) pp. 17-19 (retrieved 20^th August 2013)

Erickson, Andy, 2011; “The ethical aspects of sampling digital music” Hudson Project, pp.2-4 (retrieved 20^th August 2013)

Martin, B, Moore, C and Salter, C 2010, "Sharing music files: tactics of a challenge to the industry" First Monday vol 15, no. 12 (retrieved 20th August 2013)