Copyright Criminals
Encyclopedia
Copyright Criminals is a 2010 documentary film
directed and produced by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod
examining the creative and the commercial value of sampling
including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright
law, and money.
Copyright Criminals was funded by the Ford Foundation
, University of Iowa
and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It premiered in 2010 at the Toronto Film Festival. It was broadcast nationally in the United States
on 18 January 2010 on Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) on the documentary series Independent Lens
.
Sampling is when musicians make an audio montage taking a portion, or sample, of a sound recording and reusing, remixing or reworking it as a separate instrumental layer or loop into another song. It is popular with hip hop
musicians. The documentary contains interviews with several sampling artist pioneers, including hip-hop groups. A longtime area of contention from a legal perspective, early sampling used portions of other artists' recordings without permission. Once hip-hop, rap and other music incorporating sampling began generating a noticeably substantial income, the original artists began to take legal action, claiming copyright
infringement and demanding high-sum royalties. Sampling artists fought back, claiming fair use
.
The documentary took five years to finish (2004–2009). It is the debut film for Franzen, a graduate of University of Iowa
and founder of Atlanta-based production company Changing Images, and McLeod, a professor specializing in copyright law at University of Iowa.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed and produced by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod
Kembrew McLeod
Kembrew McLeod is an American journalist, artist, activist, and professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa.He is best known as a performance artist or "media prankster" who filed an application in 1997 to register the phrase "Freedom of Expression" as a trademark in the United...
examining the creative and the commercial value of sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
law, and money.
Copyright Criminals was funded by the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It premiered in 2010 at the Toronto Film Festival. It was broadcast nationally in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 18 January 2010 on Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) on the documentary series Independent Lens
Independent Lens
Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
.
Sampling is when musicians make an audio montage taking a portion, or sample, of a sound recording and reusing, remixing or reworking it as a separate instrumental layer or loop into another song. It is popular with hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
musicians. The documentary contains interviews with several sampling artist pioneers, including hip-hop groups. A longtime area of contention from a legal perspective, early sampling used portions of other artists' recordings without permission. Once hip-hop, rap and other music incorporating sampling began generating a noticeably substantial income, the original artists began to take legal action, claiming copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
infringement and demanding high-sum royalties. Sampling artists fought back, claiming fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
.
The documentary took five years to finish (2004–2009). It is the debut film for Franzen, a graduate of University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and founder of Atlanta-based production company Changing Images, and McLeod, a professor specializing in copyright law at University of Iowa.
Featured artists
Artists that appear in the documentary"- Aesop RockAesop RockIan Matthias Bavitz , better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it...
- Shock GShock GGregory E. Jacobs , known by the stage names Shock G and Humpty Hump, is an American musician and rapper, known as the lead vocalist for the hip hop group Digital Underground...
- Bobbito GarcíaBobbito GarciaRobert "Bobbito" García , also known as Kool Bob Love and formerly known as DJ Cucumberslice, Bobbito The Barber, Make It Happen, Boogie Bob, Soul Food Bob, and Bag of Tricks, is a Puerto Rican DJ, writer, entrepreneur, streetball player/coach/announcer, sneaker connoisseur, and member of the Rock...
- Chuck DChuck DCarlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
- Clyde StubblefieldClyde StubblefieldClyde Stubblefield is a drummer best known for his work with James Brown.Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was A Time", "I Got The Feelin'", "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm...
- De La SoulDe La SoulDe La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
- DJ Pam the Funkstress of The CoupThe CoupThe Coup is a political hip hop group based in Oakland, California. It formed as a three-member group in 1992 with emcees Raymond "Boots" Riley and E-Roc along with DJ Pam the Funkstress. E-Roc left on amicable terms after the group's second album but appears on the track "Breathing Apparatus" on...
- DJ Qbert
- Paul D. Miller aka DJ SpookyDJ SpookyPaul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
, That Subliminal Kid - Eclectic MethodEclectic-methodEclectic Method is the name of an audio-visual remix act, originally formed in London 2002 by Geoff Gamlen, Ian Edgar , Jonny Wilson ....
- El-P
- Eyedea & AbilitiesEyedea & AbilitiesEyedea & Abilities was an influential American indie rap duo from Saint Paul, Minnesota, consisting of DJ Abilities and the rapper Eyedea...
- George ClintonGeorge Clinton (musician)George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
- Hank Shocklee of The Bomb SquadThe Bomb SquadThe Bomb Squad is an American hip hop production team, known for their work with the rap group Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track...
- Harry AllenHarry Allen (journalist)Harry Allen is a hip hop activist and journalist affiliated with the group Public Enemy, and is the director of the Rhythm Cultural Institute. He grew up in Freeport, Long Island....
- Liquid LiquidLiquid LiquidLiquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...
- Mark HoslerMark HoslerMark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.- Career :Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group...
- Matt BlackMatt BlackMatt Black is a British DJ and one half of music duo Coldcut .As a college student, he was a member of a band called The Jazz Insects, whose first single was played by John Peel in his radio show...
- Miho HatoriMiho Hatoriis a singer, songwriter, and musician. She is primarily known as the vocalist of the New York City group Cibo Matto, and the first person to provide the voice of Gorillaz member Noodle.-Biography:...
- Mix Master MikeMix Master MikeMix Master Mike is an American turntablist and contributing member of the Beastie Boys.-Life and career:Born Michael Schwartz in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Filipino descent. He first came to prominence upon winning the 1992 New Music Seminar/Supermen Inc...
- Mr. LenMr. LenMr. Len is a hip hop DJ from Bronx, New York. He was a member, with Bigg Jus and El-P, of the underground hip hop trio Company Flow, which disbanded in the late-1990s. Presently he is in a group with Kimani Rogers from The Masterminds named Roosevelt Franklin...
- Pete RockPete RockPeter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
- Scott HerrenScott HerrenGuillermo Scott Herren is a music producer, who has been based in Atlanta, Barcelona and New York. Herren releases music under the aliases Prefuse 73, Delarosa & Asora and Piano Overlord, and is also part of the groups Savath y Savalas, Risil, and Diamond Watch Wrists.- Biography :Guillermo Scott...
(credited as Prefuse 73) - Sage FrancisSage FrancisPaul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
- Saul WilliamsSaul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
- Steve AlbiniSteve AlbiniSteven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...