If you weren’t one of the 160 million people watching the most recent Super Bowl’s Halftime show, there’s still a good chance you have heard someone’s opinion about it. The popular trend on the popular micro-blogging site Twitter painted a picture of an underwhelming performance by the Black Eyed Peas. The Black Eyed Peas’ set included some of their more popular singles, including the song “The Time.” This song may have caught your ear, as the Black Eyed Peas sing word for word, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from the movie Dirty Dancing. The song then continues to a techno bridge that sounds oddly familiar. Familiar enough to be something heard before.
To techno artist Deadmau5, the Black Eyed Peas’ techno riff sounds familiar because it was written by him. In an interview on Pitchfork Media, the popular indie music website, Deadmau5 stated he never licensed the rights to his song to the Black Eyed Peas. He went on to say he is considering legal action and shakes his head at the Black Eyed Peas. He unknowingly pointed out the current argument of sampling versus copyright infringement in today’s entertainment industry.
So when does sampling (the art of taking audio clips from recorded media and using them again) become copyright infringement? Well sampling has been a staple in Hip-Hop since the early 90’s. Everyone from Snoop Dog to Jay-Z has at one time used a sample in one of their songs, to little to no legal action. Kanye West produced Jay-Z’s hit single “H to the Izzo” using sampled clips from the Jackson 5. The samples heard were clearly the Jackson 5, as the samples weren’t manipulated at all. The samples used did not cause any kind of legal action although the samples were used illegally, and now the song is a staple in the Hip-Hop scene. The art of sampling is not just reserved for Hip-Hop artists though.
One producer, Gregg Michael Gillis, also known as Girl Talk is receiving quite a lot of attention lately. Gillis specializes in using sampled material and mashing songs together to create new songs. When Gillis was releasing songs to his friends, it was not a risk for him to get sued, but now that he is receiving critical acclaim, his fame has become a risk factor. It’s all fine when a sample used cannot be understood or is manipulated to the point that there is no way to hear the original audio file, but when you hear Lady GaGa’s words sampled like she was performing for that song can be a copyright lawsuit waiting to happen.
Girl Talk has released three albums in the last five years, using completely unlicensed material and is he going to get sued anytime soon? Well if the Black Eyed Peas can get away with it, then Gillis thinks he can as well. The rising question throughout the industry is where the line is going to be drawn. Eventually a band is going to get sued for their use of other people’s material, like the Black Eyed Peas for instance, and the line can become more clearly seen. If Deadmau5’s lawsuit against the Black Eyed Peas goes through, it may become a clear indicator for artists to start covering their behind.
Take for instance the band Animal Collective. In 2009 they released Entertainment Weekly’s Album of the Year and later that year they became the first band to use a licensed sample of the Grateful Dead. How much those licenses cost can really affect some musicians. Girl Talk for instance uses 20 to 30 different songs to create one song. Gillis admits there is no way he could afford being sued even once and certainly can’t afford to licenses all of the samples he mixes. He has gotten away with making albums this far, why not push it a bit further?
It’s all going to come down to whether Deadmau5 decided to go to court and whether he is going to win his case. If he does it could mean a whole new change in the current music industry. If he doesn’t, the status quo can be upheld and producers like Girl Talk can exist and continue to thrive. Either way the case is an interesting one and music everywhere can be affected by its decision, so it’s definitely worth paying attention to.
