Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Copyright in the Digital Age

Question: In your opinion, is sampling a form of copyright infringement? Explain your position.
Answer: This is a very controversial issue that can go either way, but I'm going to have to side with the samplers. Yes, in a way it could be considered stealing someone else's work, but what is used is generally changed dramatically to produce something much different. I don't think that when these portions from songs are used in a new song mashed together that it devalues the orginal song in any way, in fact, I think it bring popularity back to it if anything because if people like the beat or the words, they'll look up that original song and maybe buy it.

Question: Do you agree that, as was stated in the film, hip-hop’s sampling is no different from other artistic work (e.g. Andy Warhol’s paintings of soup cans or a photographer’s taking scenes and reconstructing them)? Why or why not?
Answer: I'm going to have to agree that the work these artists produce is just like anything other artists, such as painters, filmmakers, and other professional artists create. These people are taking little bits and pieces from various sources and creating something much larger and more detailed, and from that, can easily be compared to the work of a painter like Warhol. "All recordings have a unique character, depending on the instruments used, and where they were recorded. Sampling lets you get a piece of that character" (http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Audio-Sampling&id=1971700).

Question: 5. Some people, such as Lawrence Lessig (a founder of Creative Commons), say that current technology enables more creativity; others feel that new technology allows musical artists to take the easy route and just patch together pieces of music created by someone else. Where do you stand on this issue? Where do you think the filmmakers stand?
Answer: I do agree that today's technology enables us to be able to create pieces of music that creative beyond older generations minds. As the years pass, the technology improves, therefore, the music becomes more creative, detailed, and awesome. In a way these artists are patching together pieces of music, but by no means is it taking the easy route out because constructing a song the way they do is very strenuous and takes inordinate amounts of time and effort.

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