Copyright Criminals
2009 Directed by Benjamin Franzen, Kembrew McLeod
Synopsis
This is a Sampling Sport
Copyright Criminals examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.” The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more.
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65 mins More details at TMDb
Popular reviews
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A perfect example of what could be shown as the first screening for an undergraduate cultural studies class to introduce students to a few of the topic's discursive parameters that will subsequently be contemplated, questioned, re-investigated, re-evaluated and re-articulated. As a history of sampling and its relationship to hip hop culture, the legal framework of American copyright law, and contemporary cultural production, COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS introduces and raises many questions without getting into too much detail about specific case studies. This will undoubtedly be a disappointment to spectators who want a definitive wide-ranging statement on the subject as opposed to the primer that is being offered.
Recent reviews
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A perfect example of what could be shown as the first screening for an undergraduate cultural studies class to introduce students to a few of the topic's discursive parameters that will subsequently be contemplated, questioned, re-investigated, re-evaluated and re-articulated. As a history of sampling and its relationship to hip hop culture, the legal framework of American copyright law, and contemporary cultural production, COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS introduces and raises many questions without getting into too much detail about specific case studies. This will undoubtedly be a disappointment to spectators who want a definitive wide-ranging statement on the subject as opposed to the primer that is being offered.