Sampling and Remixing in Electronic Music: Ethical, Aesthetic, and Legal Issues of Musical Creation
Pavel Zahrádka, Rudolf Leška, Marie Čtveráčková, Ivan David, Michal Tomčík, Václav Hodonický, Rostislav Sliwka
The research report addresses the following research questions: How does the legal regulation of transformative use of copyrighted works in the Czech Republic affect the creation of musical remixes and musical compositions containing samples from protected sound recordings? What is the aesthetics of sampling sound recordings? What is the ethics of sampling protected sound recordings? What are the attitudes of actors within the Czech electronic music and hip-hop scenes (musicians and music producers) toward copyright law and potential adjustments to the legislative framework governing the transformative use of musical works? What options for reforming copyright regulation are available to address the identified problems related to the transformative use of protected musical works and recordings, and what are their advantages and disadvantages?
While the answers to the first four research questions were provided by sociological research conducted among representatives of the electronic music and hip-hop scenes, the answer to the final research question was derived, in addition to empirical research, from a legal analysis of the existing regulation of the transformative use of copyrighted works and from consultations with representatives of collective management organizations representing music authors (Ochranný svaz autorský) and performers (INTERGRAM) in the Czech Republic.
The sociological part of the research is methodologically based on an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data collected between September 2021 and February 2022. The data were obtained through semi-structured research interviews with actors from the electronic music and hip-hop scenes (authors, performers, publishers), a focus group with music publishers (Synth Library Prague, Prague, 31 March 2022), roundtable discussions with representatives of collective copyright management organizations (Jazz Dock, Prague, 1 February 2022; VŠFS, Prague, 3 May 2022), and a questionnaire survey (May–June 2022) conducted among musicians, DJs, and music publishers in cooperation with the STEM/MARK agency and the Association of Authors and Performers.
The research report was produced within the project Mapping Needs and Strengthening the Professional Skills of DJs and Music Creators in the Field of Remix (No. KU-CB1-014), with financial support from the EEA and Norway Grants 2014–2021.
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Cirg - about
CIRG – the Cultural Industries Research Group focuses on research into cultural and media industries, particularly on current issues, challenges, and conflicts arising from tensions between intellectual property law, the business models of cultural industries, the digitalization and platformization of cultural sectors, and changing consumer habits. The group’s name is an acronym of its English title, Cultural Industries Research Group. CIRG is an informal association of experts from media studies, intellectual property law, media law, media ethics, cultural economics and cultural management, sociology of culture, and data analysis. The group operates on the basis of project-based funding through applied research projects (TAČR, NAKI, EEA and Norway Grants, OP JAK Intersectoral Cooperation), basic research projects (GAČR, ZIF Bielefeld, OP VVV Excellent Research, DFG), as well as contract research (State Cinematography Fund, Association of Audiovisual Producers).
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