Re: [linux-audio-user] Copyrights on samples

Michal Seta wrote: i'm very much a supporter of negativland and if you follow the links in my sig youll see that we were honoured to have them sign our petition. but negativland are, (like me), anti-copyright activists. what they do is either *deliberately* breaking the law, or bending it and playing around in the grey areas. it takes skill and knowledge. for example, most of their work can be classed as fair use under parody or journalistic comment exceptions. the same goes for my Madonna Remix Project. and thats why Madonna didnt sue us - because she couldnt. unfortunately the same *doesnt* apply for taking samples. i am trying to encourage people to license their work under the Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org) or under a Free or Open Audio license, because this would permit us to share work and build Free/Open samplers in this way. that is the purpose of my www.copyleftmedia.org.uk website - which is now one of the supporting organisations involved in porting Creative Commons to Europe (iCommons). i want to build a repository of work licensed so that we can freely share and learn from it - thats what Larry Lessig refers to as the 'Commons', and thats what copyright in the way it is applied today is taking away from us and from our children. but as far as the law goes, you still need to be very careful at present if you want to avoid a lawsuit while you're building your sampler. Negativland and John Oswald (www.plunderphonics.com) deliberately break the law to make their protests heard. Adbusters are similiar, although most of their work is still covered under parody as fair use. whatever you do, do it in an informed way, and with good knowledge of the law. i would be more than happy to put up links to a sampler made as a 'protest' work on my website, in the same way that i support other great software that is being marginalised because of oppressive legislation (remember Vsound?). but in doing what i do, i've spent 2 1/2 years studying national and international copyright law, being involved in the debates, protests, and making sure my knowledge is sound before i take any action myself. otherwise i just make a fool of myself and of the cause. best m~ aka iriXx -- |\ _,,,---,,_ ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ HTTP 503: Too Busy |,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' '---''(_/--' `-'\_) fL "Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." -- Bruce Graham Musicians say No to RIAA Persecution and Prosecution of Music Lovers! Sign the petition at http://www.copyleftmedia.org.uk/justsayno/ .::. www.iriXx.org .::. www.copyleftmedia.org.uk .::.