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Legal Grey Area? Mixtapes
DJs (originally from Philly) were arrested in Atlanta for violation of copyright laws (in addition to RICO, organized crime type statute) for making hip hop mixtapes.
Essentially these mixtapes are like taped versions of DJ sets. The copyright issue comes in from the DJs quoting, sampling, or playing full versions of copyrighted items without paying royalites or licensing fees. These mixtapes are sold on the street and even in retailers like Best Buy and FYE.
Making mixtapes can promote creativity and innovation by introducing the public to new artists who have full songs on the mixtape or more established or perhaps forgotten artists from samples taken from their work. It can also be a way for artists to gain a following without giving away some of their creative power to the record industry.
On the other hand, the DJs who "host" the mixtapes are the ones generally receiving the bulk of the economic benefit, instead of the record companies, and the hosts may not do much for the artists on the mixtapes in terms of promoting their careers. The reason royalties or licensing fees are paid in the first place are to protect the artist and give them incentive to create, and mixtapes do not provide that.
What I think is interesting is how hip hop is a different form of music than what the copyright system has previously dealt with. Royalties and licensing fees have worked, as far as I know, pretty well to protect artists. However hip hop seems to be a little more collaborative and grassroots oriented which perhaps should be dealt with in a different way in order to assure protection of the artists but also give the public the benefit of their creativity. I personally am not too educated about hip hop business models beyond what I've observed but if anyone has any other insight, please comment!
Posted by at February 18, 2007 6:16 PM
in Current Events
