How Copyright Law Hurts Music, From Chuck D to Girl Talk

“In a new book, intellectual property scholar (and Atlantic contributor) Kembrew McLeod and copyright lawyer Peter DiCola argue that current digital copyright practices unfairly burden musicians who sample snippets of other artists’ songs in their own music. Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling begins by taking us back to the golden age of hip-hop, demonstrating how lawsuits quashed a nascent art form during its artistic ascendancy. The authors provide an in-depth overview of copyright hurdles musicians face, in theory and practice, then and now—speaking with several generations of musicians, from Public Enemy’s Chuck D to Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk. In today’s Internet remix culture, the authors suggest, strict limitations on digital sampling are both creatively and commercially untenable. ”

Read the article