News Article- Atlanta DJs Arrested for Selling Mixtapes

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533767

Atlanta DJ’s DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon were arrested in January on felony charges from a warrant under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. This means basically that the two were arrested for bootlegging music. Federal Agents seized computers and cds so they could be used as evidence. Mixtapes are a vital part of the hiphop community and many of them use and sample different songs from artists of all genres. Hip Hop artists use mixtapes usually to help promote an upcoming album or single. Although they do technically violate copyright laws, most record labels encourage their rap artists to create mixtapes. This is ironic considering the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is filing lawsuits against people who violate copyright laws

November 27th- Copyright II

On November 27th we finished up our conversation on copyright that we started two days earlier on the 25th. We watched some videos on Duke University Law School’s website. Each video had people familiar with the copyright laws discuss what they know and understand about copyright within music and movies. One thing that I found interesting is how people are making “mash-ups” of two artists and are able to sell it without the permission of the artists. I think underground and mainstream musicians should have the right to sample for free as long as they aren’t making money off of it and are just using it to get they’re name out there.