The Grey Album

I've just read this weeks readings on 'The Grey Album', and as a keen musician I find the issue of intellectual copyright of considerable interst. After a short (and failed) attempt to download The Grey Album using BitTorrent (only because I wanted to further my intellectual understanding) I came accross this rather interesting site; bannedmusic.org. The blurb for the site describes it as, a peer-to-peer collaboration that makes it impossible for the major record labels to ban or censor musical works. When record labels send legal threats to musicians, record stores, or websites, we will post the music here for download and publicize the censorship attempt. There is a clear fair use right to distribute this music, and for the public to decide whether current copyright law is serving musicians and the public, they need to be able to hear what's being suppressed.

I have to say, that I believe that artists should definatley have legal control and protection over their work. Imagine if you had created an artistic masterpiece, and someone else came along and 'mashed' it up, destroying it's integrityfor their own commercial gain? I for one would not be happy. However, I do agree with Jessica Litman (p. 13 of The Grey Album: copyright law and digital sampling) that there is a need to simplify and reform copyright law. Perhaps that 'Copyright owners would have the sole right to exploit their works coinmercially or authorize others to do so, but would not be entitled to control noncommercial uses.'

There is a chronological account of the grey album saga on bannedmusic.org in which DJ Danger Mouse is quoted saying "It's illegal, I know that and it may get me in trouble, but if I had thought about that I would have never made what I thought turned out to be one of the best things I ever did," (DJ Danger Mouse) Danger Mouse did not do it for commercial gain. There were only 3000 copies pressed for promotional purposes only. The album was mostly disseminated online, out of Danger Mouse's contronl. As long as the mash-ups are kept to non-commercial use, perhaps to creative commons, in this case, I believe that there should be no problems with Danger Mouse using Beatles samples.