Law Commons^™

Sampling, Looping, And Mashing . . . Oh My!: How Hip Hop Music Is Scratching More Than The Surface Of Copyright Law, Tonya M. Evans

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This article examines the deleterious impact of copyright law on music creation. It highlights hip hop music as an example of a genre significantly and negatively impacted by 1) the per se infringement rule applied in some instances to cases involving unauthorized sampling of sound recordings; and 2) traditional (and arguably erroneous) assumptions in copyright law and policy of independent creation and Romantic authorship. For decades hip hop producers have relied on the innovative use of existing recordings (most of which are protected by copyright), to create completely new works. Specifically, cuttin’ and scratchin’, digital sampling, looping and (most recently) …

Heavy Metal Alloys: Unsigned Rock Bands And Joint Work, Michael S. Young

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This note uses humorous illustrations culled from the history of popular heavy metal music to facilitate examination of the effectiveness of joint authorship analysis by modern federal courts. The note carefully considers a variety of common contributions made by band members in the absence of any written or verbal agreement about authorship, and concludes (1) that a more equitable regime would do away with the requirement that a co-author make an "independently copyrightable" contribution, and (2) that courts must take greater care not to transform "will to control" into "intent to be a sole author."

Drawing A Line In The Sand: Copyright Law And New Museums, Megan M. Carpenter

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Over the last twenty years, audience attendance at museums, galleries, and performing arts institutions in the United States has decreased dramatically. Major museums and galleries are considering ways to add engaging and meaningful value to the user experience with technology, from incorporating user-generated content to creating multimedia installations billed as "collaborative" works.

In 2010, the Dallas Museum of Art's Coastlines: Images of Land and Sea exhibition featured landscapes from 1850 to the present, as well as a sound installation composed by students and faculty at a local university, which played on speakers throughout the show and responded directly to the …