A Copyfighter’s Musings

Ernest wrote a great post about how artists could release remix construction sets – “the bits and parts used to create the work,” that could enable people to remix it themselves.  Notably, many Magnatune artists already do this, with no additional charge for non-commercial uses. 

Ernest’s post also gives me the opportunity to tell a little personal story.  A couple months back, my step-father gave me a copy of his redone version of Yes’ Tales from Topographic Oceans.  Many consider Yes in general pomp prog rock crap, but even among those who appreciate their music, Tales is widely panned. It’s one of those wacky concept pieces, something that might blow your mind but too often ends up totally overblown.  With its four songs all intentionally recorded to fit on one side of an LP each (four 20+ min songs), much of it seems unnaturally stretched.  But it also has many redeemable moments.  So, my step-father carved out some of the excess, just enough to fit it on one CD and to make the album much more listenable.

First, I think this is a neat example of what would be even easier using what Ernest’s talking about.  Second, note that it couldn’t be done under even iTunes’ relatively permissive DRM. (Oh, wait, you can’t find Tales in their catalog anyway, but that’s for another post).  Third, to those who trumpet artistic integrity as demanding incredibly restrictive derivatives rights, I hope this makes the issue a little tougher.  Here’s a fan of the artist – yes, he’s mucking with the “purity” of the album as it was made, but he’s also enjoying interacting with one of his fave bands.  Is that an experience we really want to stifle?

(P.S. – he also gave me a copy of the original album, so with first sale and fair use, this might even have been legal. Maybe.)

Filed by Derek Slater at 11:59 pm under General news
Comments Off on Remix Construction Sets, and a Little Story