The Back Row

Not to beat a mashed horse, but I just uploaded some examples of what I consider to be weak mashups. I was surprised that many people commented that mashups didn’t seem to be artistic or creative. Regardless of the legalities, I can’t help but defend the people that create good mashups as possessing a very high level of artistic talent. We apparently have someone in class who has first-hand knowledge of mixing and dj’ing. Perhaps he could shed some light on the process.

I think by listening to some of the “bad” mashups compared to the ones by TimG, even the unconvinced will immediately hear the difference in quality and creative choices.

Click HERE for the mashup page (now updated with sections)

Also, while there are dozens of articles out there about the history of this art form, THIS ONE does a nice job of just explaining what it’s all about. My favorite quote from the article:

Mashup is like reaching into two noxious shitpits and pulling half a shooting star from each. The right combination of the tired, the cheesy, the malfunctioning; the overcooked or half-baked; the overfamiliar or surprising can transcend Pop’s predictable patterns, even as it reveals them.

This is a candid article that Larry Lessig wrote in the wake of losing the Eldred case. It is very interesting in that it gives a behind-the-scenes look at preparing for such a huge argument. (He mentions the team of lawyers at Jones Day who helped prep him for the argument - Professor Holland was one of those.)

• Lawrence Lessig - How I Lost the Big One

and for the true dork:

• Oral Argument Transcript

and, lastly, if you’re a total geek:

• Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (co-authored by Prof. Holland)

• Reply Brief to Opposition for the Writ (also co-authored by Prof. Holland)

Aside from the hate mail I’ve received about my class posts generating additional assignments, I think the mashup post generated some good responses. I do want to make a disclaimer that in all honesty I think mashups are more akin to samples that would normally require licensing. The haiku was an attempt to make up for a post that exceeded the length limitations.  I should also point out that my view of Promote the Progress is actually backward from the intent.  Remember - the Constitution gives authors a monopoly over their work so that they will continue to create.  It’s a reward to the artist.  My view is different.  I think that progress is served more by the fair use provisions of the statute.  When people can stand on the shoulders of giants and create bigger and better art, progress has been made.  Resting on your 95-year long copyright doesn’t seem to do much for creativity.

However, while mashups may not be fair use, I do think that the people that have suggested that there is no artistic creativity involved in creating a mashup are mistaken.

Dropping the needle on a Pink Floyd record and hitting play on the Wizard of Oz - yeah - not too much creativity - and not a mashup. However, that is comparing apples to oranges. To create a mashup, the creator must decide what songs would make a political, creative, sonic, or some other statement or feeling. Then, it can take days to modify the original songs to get the beats per minute accurate, the vocals to mix and blend, and countless other factors to basically keep it from sounding like shit. While this topic has probably run its course, I might post some examples of bad mashups for comparison.

I guess art means different things to different people, and if a painting of a can of soup or a banana is simply a painting of a can of soup or banana to you, then mashups probably won’t impress you too much.

I’m watching the State of the Union, and it reminded me of a video mashup that I saw last year. (It’s the first clip below.) The way I understand copyright law as applied to the federal government is that works by the government are in the public domain. As such, the President’s actual speech is in the public domain. However, video footage of the speech shot by a non-government entity such as CNN or NBC is protected. So, these video mashups that incorporate network television footage would need to plead fair use.

With that in mind, take a look at these clips and consider the powerful engine for commentary and criticism that fair use can provide. Some of these are absolutely amazing.

Lawrence Lessig, the professor and Copyleftist who argued Eldred (and the hot-of-the-press Kahle case) posts on his blog that that Stanford Center for Internet and Society is seeking a Director for their Fair Use Project. Yet another dream job…

Job Posting

This is an excellent site that aggregates music copyright cases. Pretty much every music case we have covered in class, plus many, many more.

Each case has clips from the songs, a peek at the sheet music, and the court’s opinion.

Columbia Law Library Music Plagiarism Project

This blog will contain my carry-over thoughts from Entertainment Law.

If I am directly responding to an assignment or class request, I will notate the post accordingly and crosslink on the main class blog. Posts that are “extracurricular” may be longer than the limitations of class posts or may simply be links to weird, cool, or informative sites. Thus, this blog will serve personal and class needs (but will be notated accordingly).