This week, EMI came down on DJ Dangermouse. Posted on February 25 at Stay Free Magazine, "EMI sent out a cease and desist notice to Stay Free!/Illegal Art and about 150 other websites this week, claiming "willful violation of [copyright] laws." EMI wanted to prevent Grey Tuesday, an online protest [held February 24] of Capitol's attempt to squash Dangermouse's 'Grey Album,' from taking place. "
Around the same time Mr. Burton received his cease-and-desist letter, his album was receiving critical acclaim in Rolling Stone magazine. The album took on a distribution life of its own online, circulated via file-trading sites and on e-Bay, where bootleg CD's were selling for as much as $80 yesterday. Two weeks ago EMI issued cease-and-desist letters to an undisclosed number of record stores and e-Bbay sellers.
How arguable is it that DJ Dangermouse and The Gray Album are on the side of art? He's mixed samples from The Beatles (i.e., "The White Album") and rapper Jay-Z into something new, that none of the other musicians could have anticipated, music very much of its moment technologically, aurally, racially and artistically.
Elements of popular culture pastiched into a new statement-- right now, at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., Douglas Gordon is showing video artwork made from pieces of Hollywood films. No one's lining up to sue him, or the Smithsonian Institution (of which the Hirshhorn is a part).
I respect artists' rights to be paid for their work--I have a vested interest in the protection of these rights. The rights of artists to express themselves are much more in danger, however, thanks to copyright laws that belong to an earlier era, a conservative government agenda that puts the rights of corporations over those of the individual, and of the public good, and the vast wealth of media conglomerates who can fund legal action against creative individuals and those who distribute their work.
Electronic Freedom Foundation is a good place to catch up on this stuff.
Posted by Emily at February 29, 2004 02:35 PM