Plunderphonics: Mashups and Primary Meaning

Due to DIY responsibilities at home, I have spent most of the day listening to some great music – something that has prompted this post. The main album I listened to today was the 60 track Plunderphonic compilation by John Oswald. After coining the term in the mid 1980s – what is interesting about the technique is the issue of using copyright material overtly – without getting sample clearance. Unlike some artists – who use sampling as a starting point for creativity – then ensure the original sample is disguised beyond recognition – Plunderphonics ensures that the samples are obvious – it is in effect a protest against the restrictions of copyright. Unlike later uses of sampling – from what I can gather – a Plunderphonic piece often just uses samples from one artist and in Oswald’s case – he uses a similar cut and paste philosophy on his albums covers -

 

 

 

 

Oswald seems to be a forerunner of Mashups – although I rarely see his name credited. When listening to the album – it seemed to be full of so much meaning for me – as I heard ghostly snippets of tracks I either recognised directly, or ‘sort of recognised’ from my childhood. In fact many of the tracks were full of Primary Meaning – rare in popular music.

Although I don’t understand how it got copyright clearance – the entire album can be heard on Spotify. I suggest you put a few hours to one side – and see what it means to you.

I recon that the Primary Signification is age related – with many of the tracks possibly become less obvious to listeners as the years go by. It may be that younger people may not get any direct Primary Meaning what so ever!

I have written about this sort of thing before – but it will be interesting to consider at some point how the copyright laws can be tweaked to ensure this sort of creativity can take place – it’s great music in my view. If it is passed on without being ‘sold’ – why can’t composers legally engage with this sort of process?

I suggest you listen to the album – check out the essay below – then see what you can recognise. After that – look at the album notes – which has details of what what the samples are.

Plunderphonics Essay from 1985 by John Oswald

Plunderphonic Album Notes

 

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Shepard Fairey Settles Copyright & Fair Use Of Obama Image : The New Rockstar Philosophy

Here is a really interesting copyright case – which has impacks for music.

The street artist Shepard Fairey and The Associated Press have settled their long-running legal battle over the well-known “Hope” campaign poster of Barack Obama.

…Mr. Fairey, who sued The Associated Press in 2009 as it began to accuse him of copyright infringement for using one of its photographs as the basis for the poster, said that he did not appropriate any copyrightable material and that his use of the photograph, which showed Mr. Obama looking up pensively, constituted fair use under copyright law.

…Because of the issues at stake and the high visibility of the parties involved, the case had shined a spotlight on the tricky legal issues surrounding the fair-use exceptions to copyright protections. One of the central questions was whether Mr. Fairey’s creation, which became ubiquitous on street corners and T-shirts during and after Mr. Obama’s campaign, constituted a “transformative” use of the photograph, a use that is allowed under the law so that creative expression is not stifled. (via NYT)

To read the rest of this blog – click on the link below.

via Shepard Fairey Settles Copyright & Fair Use Of Obama Image : The New Rockstar Philosophy.

You may also be interested on how the image has been used in other ways. Look at the 13th slide of the presentation below I done a while ago on Zappa and Politics. The ‘Perfectly Clear’ phrase comes from President Nixon in the 1970′s!!

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How to Legally Sell Downloads of Cover Songs | DIY Musician

Firstly, let us say that if you are planning to sell a cover song, CD Baby has partnered with Limelight to provide the quickest and most convenient way to secure mechanical licenses. Limelight makes cover song clearance easy without expensive lawyer fees and complicated paperwork. Check out Limelight HERE.

But if you’d like to handle the the process on your own, follow the steps below:

Please note that the below is not official legal advice, we are not your lawyers, and you should always contact your attorney before entering into any contract such as a license.

If you have recorded a cover version of someone else’s song, and you plan to make that recording available over the Internet, the following information applies to you.

For the rest of this article, click on the link below

How to Legally Sell Downloads of Cover Songs | DIY Musician.

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Who owns your digital music downloads?

Here is an additional argument to what I posted the other day regarding the ownership of online books. It looks like something is in the air – as this blog focuses on music.

Steve Jobs once said, “People want to own their music.”

Someone better tell the folks who run the iTunes Store and its competitors. If you buy a digital music track or album from the iTunes store or one of its competitors, you don’t own it. Instead, you’re buying a license to play that track or album, and that license comes with an extremely limited set of rights.

Why does it matter? If you buy a CD in the United States, Section 109 of the Copyright Act gives you very specific rights under the first-sale doctrine. Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains those rights:

[O]nce you’ve acquired a lawfully-made CD or book or DVD, you can lend, sell, or give it away without having to get permission from the copyright owner. In simpler terms, “you bought it, you own it” (and because first sale also applies to gifts, “they gave it to you, you own it” is also true).

But the first-sale doctrine only applies to tangible goods, such as CDs. Digital music downloads (just like movies and TV shows and books) come with a completely different, much more limited set of rights. If you buy a digital album from an online service such as the iTunes store, Amazon MP3, or eMusic, you have no legal right to lend that album to a friend, as you could if you had purchased a CD. If you decide after a few listens that you hate the album, well, tough. You can’t resell it. You can’t even legally give it away.

For the rest of the article, click on the link below.

 

Who owns your digital downloads? Hint: it’s not you | ZDNet.

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Would you sell your Kindle to sell a used book?

I posted something related to this on Facebook a few days ago, and I think anyone who purchases digital media should read the post below. It outlines an important distinction between ‘ownership’ and ‘licencing’ of digital product. To give you an indicative example, I recently purchased a Kindle (which I am very happy with). It is a great device for uploading and reading PDF’s, has a good range of free books (that are out of copyright), let’s you preview chapters free of charge, and most importantly enables you access to books instantaniously – something I often need. However, I have noticed that lots of books I would like are at least the same price as the paperback versions. On the surface this may not seem too much of a problem, BUT – if I intend to lend the book or sell it on – I Can’t!!! Why – Because I don’t own the digital version.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the convenience of digital downloads is great, but as I have had these important right taken away from me – it should be reflected in the price of digital copies – be it a song or a book. As long as the ownership/licencing distinction is not reflected in price – there will always be a tendancy to look for illegal copies in my view.

Read the post below if you want more details.

The holiday season is upon us, and with it thoughts of peace on earth, goodwill… and the latest electronic media.  Visions of Kindles and Kinects dance in children’s heads (and no doubt yours as well), and iTunes store cards invitingly peek from stocking tops.  But as consumers embrace digital media, businesses and courts grapple with a question that has proved as elusive as it is essential:  when you “buy” an e-book, an MP3, or a downloaded TV show or movie, what do you really “own”?

With paper books and plastic discs, the answer was obvious, courtesy of a legal principle known as the “first sale” doctrine.  Put simply, under the first sale doctrine, a copyright owner can’t control what consumers do with a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work after it’s been sold.  This idea has had a pervasive impact on individuals, commerce, and society. It enables libraries to lend books, museums to display art works, and Blockbuster (BBI) and Netflix (NFLX) to rent DVDs.  Online aftermarket sellers, such as on eBay (EBAY) and Amazon.com (AMZN), rely on the first sale doctrine to offer new and used copyrighted goods.  Retailers can sell CDs, DVDs, books, and video games below suggested prices because the first sale doctrine prevents manufacturers from controlling prices.  And every time you give a book to a relative, purchase a used textbook, or buy classic vinyl at a yard sale, you benefit from the first sale doctrine.

To read the rest of the post – click the link below

Would you sell your Kindle to sell a used book? – Fortune Tech.

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BPI DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

There has been much online chatter in the last 24 hours about a ‘takedown request’ sent by record label trade body the BPI to Google, requesting that the search engine block access to eighteen illegally posted MP3s which can be accessed via the search service by doing relatively straight forward key word searches involving artist and song names and then a word like ‘MP3′, ‘download’, ‘upload’ or the name of a file-transfer service.

For rest of post go here

Also – check this out

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Around the World… Waka Waka Hey Hey! – WFMU’s Beware of the Blog

Here is an excellent blog entry on Shakira’s World Cup piece Waka Waka. It concerns the seemingly free use of African copyright material in the West and is an excellent read.

Around the World… Waka Waka Hey Hey! – WFMU’s Beware of the Blog.

If you are interested the original African piece can be found below

You can now compare to the ‘translation’

From what I understand the publishers of this are doing the right thing now, but it would be easier to take notice in the first place!

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The Barriers of Music Consumption: Past & Present – hypebot

There was a time when songs were songs. When there were the albums that you owned and those that you did not. When there was a distinct difference between the music that you liked and the artists that you didn’t care for at all.There was a time when the music you that collected was actually a physical thing; it represented your identity and served as a mirror of your taste. When the albums you had access to, beyond those that you owned, were limited to that of your friend’s and family’s. When the only way you could expand your collection was to purchase more music or temporarily borrow a copy of theirs.There was a time — one I barely remember — where these boundaries defined my music experience, but those days are gone now, and we can never get them back. Once the album format fractured and individual songs became the focal point of music consumption, companies like Pandora, iLike, Last.FM, iMeem, and others began the process of discerning the unique characteristics of each song, and building recommendation engines around them.

To check out the rest of this post go to The Barriers of Music Consumption: Past & Present – hypebot.

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Copyright Infringement

I have recently being doin some work as a forensic musicologist, and thought it would be interesting to post interesting copy right cases that are hitting the press (I can’t inform anyone about what I am working on for obvious reasons). Anyway, check out Gorillaz new single ‘Stylo’ and compare to ‘Time Warp’  by Eddy Grant (1977). The crazy thing is that they are both signed to the same publisher. That’s the music industry for you.

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An Autocratic Approach to Music Copyright?: The potential negative impacts of restrictive rights on a composers legacy – The case of the Zappa Family Trust.

Here is the abstract of a paper I am preparing for a conference (somewhere). Let me know if you require any details about it.

Since the death of Frank Zappa in 1993, there has been an ongoing legal battle between the Zappa Family Trust (ZFT) and the so called ‘tribute bands’ that are determined to continue translating his music through live and recorded mediums. It could be argued that these ensembles effectively not only pay direct homage to Zappa’s legacy by interpreting his music in numerous innovative ways, but also keep his memory alive by interfacing with both his long standing audience, and with a younger generation who may not be aware of his music. The most famous of the rock based ensembles is entitled Zappa Plays Zappa and has the unusual credit of being ‘legally’ sanctified to perform his music live. This legality is no coincidence, as the band is headed by Zappa’s eldest son Dweezil and features the ‘Vault Master’ responsible for compiling the legal recordings heralding from the ZFT – Joe Travers on drums. After outlining the means through which Zappa consistently translated and adapted his own and other composers’ work over his 27 years in the public eye, this paper will explore how and why such a diverse range of bands and ensembles are so intent on continuing to experiment with his music, despite the legal challenges outlined above. This paper will subsequently examine the various philosophical, legal and industrial factors behind why the ZFT, an organization who have contributed so much to Zappa’s legacy over the last 15 years, seem intent on selectively prohibiting recorded and in particular live performance of his music, followed by a conclusory discussion of the cultural impact of this stance in the light of the supreme irony that Zappa was himself someone who ‘borrowed heavily’ from his diverse influences such as Surf Music, Do Wop and Chicago Blues, in addition to ‘serious’ composers such as Stravinsky, Stockhausen and his childhood hero – Edgard Varèse.

 

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