Journal of Consumer Culture

Running head: COPYRIGHT AND MUSICAL CREATIVITY
COPYRIGHT AND MUSICAL CREATIVITY
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COPYRIGHT AND MUSICAL CREATIVITY1
Copyright and promotion of musical creativity
According to many, copyright is a way to preserve musical creativity. Copyright has been
used long for safeguarding and promoting intellectual property rights. However, in view of the
recent observances in the music and art industry, copyright has come under question. According
to Heins and Beckles (2005) in the past instances it was seen that copyright notices were
unnecessarily sent to people who were merely practicing their freedom of expression. The major
problem in the music industry in regards to copyright is that it has been and is still being
frequently used an income generating tool. In a way music producers seek copyright for their
manufactured music. It is important to note that copyright has also become a legal instrument for
maligning many emerging musical talents. Lessig (2004) opines that in the present world the
music world is being dominated by the powerful few. This means that the copyright tool is being
used to safeguard the interests of the large established musicians and the music companies rather
than promoting creativity. It is important to note that the musical creativity of many are lost as
they fail to make cover versions of songs that have long gone into oblivion. This is another
important factor that makes it difficult for people to enhance their musical creativity due to the
copyright laws.
According to Collins (2010) the promotion of musical creativity is further jeopardized by
the rise of the web 2.0 applications. These applications encourage consumers of music to create
their own versions of the previously copyrighted music. It is important to understand that the
new creators in some cases are doing very good work in the field of music. However, there is an
emerging conflict between the copyright holders and prosumerists concerning the rights of
copyrighted materials. There is a growing culture in the music industry that focuses on making
original works based on popular works from the bygone musical era. It is important that this is
much importantly addressed through the creation of newer laws that provide new music
producers with a fair amount of freedom without being lenient on the matters of piracy that can
affect the copyrighted works. It is important to note that the copyright laws are doing no
particular favor to the emerging independent music makers. Musical creativity can only be
fostered through the free participation of the new budding musicians. Copyright is definitely
limiting the scope of their creativity. In essence, very few works can actually be original.
Creativity in music in the past has been enhanced through the older works that have influenced