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- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!utkcs2!memstvx1!ukma!morgan
- Newsgroups: misc.int-property
- Subject: Re: Crosley Bendix (Negativland) Discusses The Copyright Act
- Message-ID: <1992Nov10.93616.19134@ms.uky.edu>
- From: morgan@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan)
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 14:36:16 GMT
- Sender: morgan@ms.uky.edu (Wes Morgan)
- References: <TSDAVIES.92Nov9230909@mothra.syr.EDU>
- Organization: University of Kentucky Engineering Computing Center
- Keywords: Copyright,Negativland,U2,lawsuit,reform
- Lines: 80
-
- [ .....original message deleted..... ]
-
- { begin disgusted sarcasm }
-
- "Found sound appropriation"?
-
- What kind of Politically Correct, I-don't-want-to-feel-bad-about-what-I-do
- label is that? I agree with you that copyright law is in need of change,
- but I am not about to refer to samplers as "found sound appropriators".
- That sounds like the invocation of musical salvage rights! Yeesh.
-
- { end disgusted sarcasm }
-
- Now that I've released that from my system, let's get to brass tacks.
-
- We have to strike a delicate medium here <isn't that always the case?>.
- I certainly acknowledge that even a casual hearing of someone else's work
- can inspire one's creative Muse; it's certainly happened to me (I've written
- quite a bit of music for percussion ensemble, and come dangerously close to
- getting some of it published). I would hope that music inspires all of us
- in some fashion, and that it continues to do so.
-
- However, I've heard sampling artists (?) say things like "yeah, I must have
- listened to 30 tunes before I found the back beat I was looking for." [This
- was said on an interview show on BET about 2 weeks ago.] That isn't art,
- it's carefully conducted research! I don't think that fellow was "inspired"
- by anything; he just searched and searched until he found what was already
- in his mind.
-
- Aesthetics aside, where shall we draw the line? I'd say that the use of
- an *identifiable* sample should require royalty payments. I've heard lis-
- teners say things like "have you heard that new song? It's got James Brown,
- Chuck Berry, and the Rolling Stones in it!" They can't name the title or
- the creator, but they know/remember the artists who have been sampled.
-
- I don't think we should get particularly agitated about samples such as
- "the drum track from 'Turn the Beat Around'"; however, immediately iden-
- tifiable tracks such as the opening to 'Tom Sawyer' are deserving of some
- compensation. { fyi, both of these examples have been sampled in recent
- years } Perhaps we could have some form of arbitration board that deter-
- mines the need for (and/or amount of) royalty payments; ASCAP/BMI are
- notorious for their inflexibility in these matters.
-
- A possible compromise lies in the lifespan of a copyright. As I under-
- stand it (and I'm not a lawyer), a copyright lasts 50 years past the
- death of the author. Perhaps we could adjust this for those items
- created for mass broadcast (as opposed to mass distribution, as with
- publishing). Should the copyright on a Top 40 song last as long as that
- of _The Book of Lists_? We don't hear/see the _Book of Lists_ every day;
- in fact, we usually have to purchase or borrow it for our own use. Music,
- on the other hand, is constantly broadcast around us. I'd guess that I
- hear the "Top 40" songs approximately 50 times/song/week; that widespread,
- free distribution should make a difference. We just have to decide where
- to make that difference. Perhaps we need two different copyrights, one
- for excerpts (sampling) and one for complete remakes (cover versions).
-
- We must also consider the impact of such changes on other areas of
- copyright law. I don't believe that we can make exceptions for music;
- we'll probably have allow similar exceptions for other copyrighted
- media, such as movies, television broadcasts, and the print media.
- If we allow samples in music, should I be able to collect/print/sell
- a volume entitled "The Best Quotes of American Literature 1992" with-
- out paying royalties to the authors? Should I be able to collect
- and sell "The Best Punchline Panels of the 1992 Comics"? I don't think
- Charles Schulz <Peanuts>, Bill Watterson <Calvin and Hobbes>, Garry
- Trudeau <Doonesbury>, or Lynn Johnston <For Better or For Worse> would
- have a particular appreciation for my sale of such excerpts.....
-
- In conclusion, I believe that a compromise can be reached. None of us
- have an exclusive claim to musical interpretation, but I believe that we
- should have an exclusive right <as guaranteed in the Constitution> to our
- works. I believe that we can find our compromise in the length/specifics
- of that guaranteed exclusive right.
-
-
- --
- MORGAN@UKCC | Wes Morgan | ...!ukma!ukecc!morgan
- morgan@ms.uky.edu | Engineering Computing | morgan@wuarchive.wustl.edu
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