Queen / Fitty cent Mashup briefly available

TriComet - 2005-12-05 3:14 PM

Funny. Thats illegal though right?

cerveloP3 - 2005-12-05 5:31 PM

www.gybo-v3.co.uk/

stupidnickname - 2005-12-05 2:54 PM



Now that is a fascinating philosophical and legal question.

The answer is, it depends.

If a DJ mixed together multiple recordings to fashion a new combination of beats and breaks for a live audience, it's certainly legal, and even encouraged by the owners of the copyright.

If a DJ did the same thing and broadcast it over the radio, it's also legal and condoned practice.

If a DJ did the same thing and broadcast it over the internet, it's also legal and condoned practice. As long as it's a non-recordable non-transferrable format, eg streaming audio.

If a DJ mixed together multiple recordings and offered them for sale, it would depend on what percentage of the original was used, and whether the original copyright holders had authorized that use and were paid for their consideration. See countless Public Enemy and other legal cases.

If a DJ mixed together multiple recordings and DID NOT offer them for sale but rather rleased them free of charge, it may be illegal, depending upon whether the rightsholders could demonstrate that distribution of the new mix deprived them of sales of their original versions. But a counterargument might be that listeners would be more likely to buy the original after hearing the mix, not less. I mean, does posessing this mashup mean that you don't need to own, somewhere in your music collection, an original track of "Fat Bottom Girls"?

So, I do not believe that making or distirbuting these mashups free of charge is illegal. Certainly, it is breaking no specific law; it falls under free use and the constant churn of cultural appropriation. And I'm fairly certain that it actually better serves the artists interests (in most cases) to have this type of fan activity; see manga. But the rightsholders can certainly take legal action (if they can figure out who owns the site) to remove the material.