By
Ryan Moore
Sec.6
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Music has been and always will be an art
form solely based on personal creativity and
the freedom to express oneself in a
non-verbal fashion.
As technology grows, computer users
continue to discover various ways of
stealing music.
Users that take artists’ work without
paying deserve to be penalized.
Other individuals may have purchased the music; however, posting any remix or
variation online is typically seen as copyright infringement.
All in all, manipulating music in order to form something interesting and unique
should not be considered a crime.
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Don Henley
of “The
Eagles”
Front man Don Henley from “The Eagles” opposes the belief
that individuals should have the right to manipulate songs.
He states, “ ‘When someone has stolen and misused your
intellectual property, you have to do something about it.... I
could have let this go, but I had to stand up and do
something about it.’ Henley blasted all unauthorized uses of
his music, whether by politicians or just amateurs making
remixes, mash-ups, and similar unlicensed uses on sites like
YouTube. ‘I don’t condone it,’ he said of such practices. ‘I’m
vehemently opposed to it. Not because I don’t like parodies
or satires of my work. But it’s simply a violation of U.S.
copyright law.’ He added, ‘People in my age group generally
don’t like it. Songs are difficult to write; some of them take
years to write. To have them used as toys or playthings is
frustrating.’ Henley noted that he does not license his songs
for commercials and only rarely does so for uses in films and
television.”
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In defense of Henley and other artists’ statements, I believe it is
not right to limit the creativity of music by punishing and
controlling these individuals’ actions.
Variations and combinations of songs are not seen as original
works in the eyes of these professional musicians.
The artists get upset when they find amateurs using their work for
their own benefit; even though most unknown amateurs do not
seek any benefit at all.
If anything, original artists of these songs benefit from unique
mixes. Many of them involve the crossing of genres which in turn
offers them more exposure to a wider range of audiences.
Since creators of mash-ups typically do not receive credit or
payment for promoting an artists’ work, what then is the problem
with making the songs in the first place?
This is a mash-up I recently created and
posted to Youtube myself.
 It is a blending of two completely different
genres. The two songs used are Queen’s rock
anthem “Who Wants to Live Forever” and
Skrillex’s techno/dubstep song “Cinema”.
 However, if you click on the video, it will not
play within the confines of this presentation.
 How then are viewers supposed to enjoy this
work when it is held back by legal boundaries?
 In the description for the video I even stated, “I
do not own any rights to these songs. I am just a
fan who likes to make mash-ups”.
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I was not looking to receive fame or
money when posting this song to the web.
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http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=SeMsECUmqIw
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Youtube is a haven for posting and
sharing remixed songs and other
types of media online.
Here users have the freedom to
upload, download, share, comment,
and view countless videos from
others who share similar interests.
Even if a video violates a copyright
on this site, it is still playable.
Although the owners clearly display
their terms of agreement, Youtube
users still believe that the reward for
sharing their music with the rest of
the world is greater than the risk of
getting caught.
Clearly there must be some positive
qualities in the posting of these
songs due to this trend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC
pBhU16TzI&feature=player_embedded
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“What is copyright? Copyright is a form of protection provided for
original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical,
graphic and audiovisual creations. ‘Copyright’ literally means the
right to copy, but has come to mean that body of exclusive rights
granted by law to copyright owners for protection of their work.”
“What is copyright infringement? Copyright infringement occurs
when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed,
publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the
permission of the copyright owner.”
“Posting copyright-infringing content can lead to the termination of
your account, and possibly monetary damages if a copyright owner
decides to take legal action (this is serious—you can get sued!).”
Youtube and other similar sites and services are meant for allowing
users the freedom to share ideas with others.
The truth is that every new idea comes from the one before it and
even the one before that.
It is understandable that taking music for free may be a punishable
act because it is detrimental to the copyright owner; however, those
who use their music in order to expand and broaden the owner’s
work should have freedom to do so.
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There are various types of application software found all
over the internet that allow users to mix songs together.
Some of them include FL Studios, Mixxx, Ultramixer, OTS
Turntables, and Karamixer.
I use a program called “Virtual DJ” to create my songs.
It’s interesting how all of these programs have one thing in
common other than similar functionality. They all share the
capability of recording music and exporting
it into playable and distributable formats such
as mp3 and wav.
Most of all, they are great tools for anybody
who has an interest in making music and
having fun.
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There are those who actually believe in the uprising phenomena of
combining others’ music into original works and agree that it
should continue.
Emily Harper comes to the realization that, “the Internet has
triggered a shift towards a participation-oriented culture in which
people build off of others’ works. This copy-and-paste practice is
on the rise in the music industry where mash-up artists create new
songs merely by combining preexisting songs (Harper, Pg. 444)”.
“Congress should enact legislation that protects the exclusive rights
of copyright holders, but also accounts for the widespread practice
of borrowing from others to create something new (Harper, Pg.
444)”.
It seems that Harper provides a thoughtful and realistic goal that
would be beneficial to both original artists and amateur artists alike
if any action in this case is taken.
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Suppose one decides to take a popular song,
transpose their own composition from it with a
live instrument, record themselves playing it and
post it online.
Is this the same thing as posting a digitally
remixed song online?
If so, should this action be punishable?
Again, this seems to be another form of taking
one’s preexisting work and building from it.
Musicians should be allowed to borrow music and
display their own variations of it.
If somebody takes the time to learn a song that
has already been written and give credit to the
artist by displaying their name and the song’s
name, they should be allowed to do so without
fear of getting in trouble.
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=9Uvug1tWhjA
During my senior year in high school, I listened to a lot
of music from the rap artist "Kid Cudi". Over this time
period, I thought it would be interesting to play one of
his songs on the piano. However, the only problem was
that there was no sheet music for any of his work.
Therefore, I made it my goal to figure out my favorite
song of his called "Soundtrack 2 My Life" by ear. Not
only did I take his song and transcribe it into a piano
piece. I added a lot to the song itself and essentially
made it a creation of my own. I used improvisation,
key changes, and fusion of another one of his famous
songs called "Pursuit of Happiness“ added in towards
the end. Once the piece was complete, I was shocked to
realize how well it turned out and wanted to show
everyone. In order to do this, I signed up for my high
school talent show where I performed "Soundtrack 2
my Life" as seen in the video on this slide. After the
show, I saw how the audience reacted and decided that
I should post the video to “Youtube”.
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There is nothing wrong with
borrowing as long as it is not
stealing.
Creativity in music runs so
much deeper than
mainstream bands and MTV
videos.
Technology only continues to
expand and progress.
This widespread culture is not
all about greed and betrayal.
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Sheffner, Ben. "Henley, DeVore settle lawsuit; Henley rails against remixes and
mash-ups, YouTube, 'dark side' of Internet; songs are not 'toys or playthings' ."
Copyrights and Campaigns. N.p., 05 Aug 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
<http://copyrightsandcampaigns.blogspot.com/2010/08/henley-devore-settlelawsuit-henley.html >.
Standard Youtube License, , writ. Remix Culture: Fair Use is Your Friend .
FairUseProject, 2009. Web. 17 Nov 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCpBhU16TzI&feature=player_embedded>.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCpBhU16TzI&feature=player_embedded>.
. "Copyright Tips." Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_copyright >.
Harper, Emily. "MUSIC MASHUPS: TESTING THE LIMITS OF COPYRIGHT LAW AS
REMIX CULTURE TAKES SOCIETY BY STORM." Hoftra. N.p., 2010. Web. 17 Nov
2011. <law.hofstra.edu/pdf/.../lrv_issues_v39n02_CC-2-Harper-final.pdf>.
-Must open Emily Harper Web Document through Google. Type ‘Note Music
Mashups’ into the search bar and click on the first link.”