Copyright, Cover Versions, Sampling, and Piracy in the Music Industry

This essay delves into the multifaceted relationship between copyright, musical creativity, and piracy. It critically examines the assertion that copyright hinders artistic expression, particularly within the context of cover versions and sampling. The essay argues that copyright laws, while intended to protect creators, can inadvertently stifle innovation by restricting the free flow of ideas and increasing the costs associated with music production. Furthermore, it explores the ineffectiveness of copyright in combating piracy, highlighting how technological advancements and the ease of digital distribution have rendered traditional copyright protections inadequate. The essay uses examples to illustrate the challenges faced by the music industry and suggests that alternative approaches are needed to foster both creativity and fair compensation for artists. The author references the works of Lessig, Netanel and others to strengthen the arguments and provide evidence. The paper concludes by underscoring the need for a more nuanced approach to copyright that balances the rights of creators with the public's interest in accessing and building upon creative works.

Running head: FREE CULTURES
Free Cultures
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1. Copyright fails to promote musical creativity. Discuss this statement in the context
of cover versions and sampling.
The idea of copyright was invented to protect the interest of creators and inventors.
The major use of copyright has been related with music and creativity. File sharing and music
piracy has been the one of the most sweating issues that composers and publishers had to
worry about (Demers 2006). The internet age has brought forth the issue and has increased
the complicacies surrounding music piracy to a greater extent. The copy right law protects the
creation from theft and misuse. There is a dichotomy in this policy as it constricts the free use
of knowledge and information. The creators and composers enjoy unlimited rights on their
creation and are bale to intimidate others from composing. There had been increasing
lawsuits and litigations regarding theft of musical lyrics or note for commercialization. The
results of these lawsuits have been varied as law itself has interpreted the Intellectual property
law differently (Caress 2018). This has led to the increasing confusion and misuse of the law.
Evan the current extension of the copyright laws are not effective as they have been created
keeping in mind the transitions that are happening at present rather than the future of internet
and technology.
The coming of the internet age has made the sharing files easier. The emergence of
internet itself happened due to the ease of this activity over the platform. Numerous cases of
copyright infringement have been proved and laws have been created to ensure protection
against piracy (Schuster, Mitchell and Brown 2019). Despite all the initiatives, piracy
remains a fact and a necessary evil. Internet has enabled pirates to make copies digitally and
spread them across the world. Due to this reason, the music and movie makers have been
forced to release CDs of the original version simultaneously with same day premier. Many of
the theorists believe that the internet age has rendered the copyright almost obsolete and their

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existence now has become limited to hardcopies. The music industry is now largely existing
on the internet and most of the access and activity, buying and sharing is done through online
platforms (Netanel 1996). Thus, the copyrights that are there in place are not enough to
protect the interest of the creators and composers.
There have been much uproar about the negative implications of copyright and how it
limits the horizon of creativity. It has become a machinery for corporations to earn profit. The
problem with this law occurs when the musicians are accused in case of any infringement
rather than the label that is releasing the music. This makes the artist personally responsible
for the theft which leads to lesser incentive for artists to become more creative. Ultimately
this has led to a reduced willingness of artists to create new melody or songs. Contrarily,
abiding by the Intellectual property law too, is quite expensive as artists are forced to pay the
¾’s mechanical rate as signing conditions (Wang 2017). It means that artists suffer through a
25% cut in their royalty whenever their cover is made on their composition. This implicates
that the copyright laws with all its expansions have not been able to promote creativity or
interest for the artists and suffers the brunt of it.
2. Copyright has been ineffective in fighting piracy. Discuss this statement with
reference to examples.
Copyright is a machinery that was primarily created to protect the rights and interest
of the artists. The main idea is to safeguard the artists, composers and creators from illegal
and commercial use of the art that they make (Street, Negus and Behr 2018). Piracy has been
seen as an evil that violates that right of the artists and creators and commercializes their
creation for profit. While this definition is definitely true, there is an alternative thought about
piracy as well. Piracy has been the source creativity for generations. For example, what is
known as Hollywood today, is a result of unlicensed film industry that became popular in

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time. The method that successful pirates follow is adapting to changes in technology or
creating new formats. This protects them from lawsuits. Most of the times piracy is done
anonymously which makes their effort difficult to stop (Osborne 2017). The very first radio
channel was a result of piracy and copyright violation. This begs the question of the extent to
which the copyrights are applicable and effective in eradicating piracy.
It has been argued by numerous scientists that the advent of online age has rendered
copyright practically obsolete. The reason behind this is the platforms and technologies that
are available via the internet which can be used for sharing files or copying them from artist’s
platform. The circulations are done universally and this has become much easier with the
introduction of cloud technology. The cloud technology disrupts the existing copyright
regulations and the interest of the creators are being violated extensively. The problem with
internet is that the use is universal and the jurisdictions are not (Mason 2009). Thus, the
existing laws and their expansion are being able to stop piracy or reduce it as it was expected.
Another problem with copyright laws are that they are created depending on the present
scenario and development in the technological field while they should be created thinking
about the future of technology and that could be invented at least 5 years later.
The practice of piracy has been there in the artistic community for ages and the
initially they were created as response to constrictive proprietary laws that infringed free use
or fair use. The corporations having copyrights of patents enjoyed unlimited royalty and
forced people against creativity using their license. Copyright licenses were used and is still
in use to infringe upon the rights of the creators (Lessig 2004). The focus was always on
punishing the illegal user rather than making it easier or profitable for them to pay rather than
steal. Researchers have argued that the only method to stop piracy is to understand the piracy
behavior of the internet user and use that analysis to increase awareness and legal behavior.

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All the arguments ultimately implies that the copyright laws has truly been inadequate and
ineffective in eradicating piracy and promote creativity.
References
Caress, S., 2018. 2nd Place Contest Entry: Piracy, Policy, and Pandora: Outdated Copyright
in a Digital World.
Demers, J.T., 2006. Steal this music: How intellectual property law affects musical creativity.
University of Georgia Press.
Lessig, L., 2004. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down
Culture and Control Creativity. Penguin.
Mason, M., 2009. The pirate's dilemma: How youth culture is reinventing capitalism. Simon
and Schuster.
Netanel, N.W., 1996. Copyright and a democratic civil society. Yale Lj, 106, p.283.
Osborne, R., 2017. Success ratios, new music and sound recording copyright. Popular
Music, 36(3), pp.393-409.
Schuster, M., Mitchell, D. and Brown, K., 2019. Sampling Increases Music Sales: An
Empirical Copyright Study. American Business Law Journal, 56(1), pp.177-229.
Street, J., Negus, K. and Behr, A., 2018. Copy rights: The politics of copying and
creativity. Political Studies, 66(1), pp.63-80.
Wang, S., 2017. The cloud, online piracy and global copyright governance. International
Journal of Cultural Studies, 20(3), pp.270-286.