Copyright
- US Copyright Office
- Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights (US govt.)
- ASCAP (repertory search); BMI (repertory search); SESAC (repertory search)
- Harry Fox Agency (info on royalty rates, mechanical licenses, etc.)
- Teaching Copyright (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
- A Brief History of Copyright
- The Music Copyright Enforcers (NYT article on BMI)
- Center for Media and Social Impact: Fair Use
- CMSI: Recut, Reframe, Recycle
- Mechanical licenses, record royalties (from Get It in Writing, Brian McPherson, 1999)
- UW list of links
- Copyright Criminals (PBS documentary website); film on Vimeo
- “Bob Dylan Sells His Songwriting Catalog in Blockbuster Deal” (NYT, 12/7/2020)
- “For a Classic Motown Song About Money, Credit Is What He Wants” (NY Times, Aug. 2013)
- An Ex-Convict, a Hit Album, an Ending Fit for Hollywood (NYT, March 2002)
- “Linda Perry Slams Lady Gaga’s Oscar Nomination” (Variety, 1/18/2016)
- We Shall Overcome
- “Hit songwriters ask pop stars to stop taking credit for songs they didn’t write” (BBC, 3/31/2021)
- Okuda Hiroko: The Casio Employee Behind the “Sleng Teng” Riddim that Revolutionized Reggae
Copyright registration examples in hip hop
- “Rapper’s Delight” (BMI)
- “Fight the Power” (BMI); list of “Fight the Power” samples
- “Can I Live”: ASCAP (search Carter Shawn under writers or Jay-Z under performers);
- the sample;
- Jay-Z by the Numbers (charts, sales, etc.);
- RIAA album sales certification;
- “Look of Love” on ASCAP;
- BMI copyright registration for Childish Gambino’s “Redbone”
- Jay-Z and Alan Lomax: “The Takeover” (ASCAP search Carter Shawn under writers or Jay-Z under performers). Jay-Z, sampling KRS-1, who samples Grand Funk Railroad, who covered The Animals, who used the tune “Rosie” recorded by Alan Lomax with a prison chain gang. The samples on whosampled.com.
- Dr. Dre, “The Roach (Chronic Outro)” composers (including Eric Dwayne Collins aka RBX); album copyright claims; “P Funk” composers; “The Roach (Chronic Outro)” audio sample“
- “Hey Mama” (BMI): Nicki Minaj, David Guetta, Alan Lomax
Copyright infringement
- List of cases from GWU Law School
- Landmark cover version decision (Supreme Records v. Decca, 1950)
- “A Little Bird Told Me” (1948): Paula Watson (original); Evelyn Knight cover
- “Songs on Trial: 12 Landmark Music Copyright Cases” (Rolling Stone 6/8/2016)
- “He’s so fine” vs. George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”
- Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally)” vs. Biz Markie’s “Alone Again”
- Linda Shider (widow of P-Funk guitarist Garry Shider) vs. Bridgeport Music
- The Drama Behind the Chuck D Sample in The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ten Crack Commandments’ (Showbiz Cheatsheet, 1/17/2023)
- (the samples from whosampled.com)
- CHUCK D EXPLAINS WHY SUING THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. WAS “STUPID” AND WHY JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST’S BASES ARE “CORRUPT TO RAP” (and more on Elvis);
- ASCAP writers credits (search ten crack commandments);
- DJ Premier’s comments on the lawsuit (XXL 12/15/2010, pages 3-4);
- album sales figures at riaa.org (search notorious b.i.g.)
- Unauthorized Beatles samples; Wu Tang Clan and “The Heart Gently Weeps” (the song)
- Sir Mix-a-lot, “Baby Got Back“; Jonathan Coulton’s cover of “Baby Got Back“; Glee version; analysis of the legalities
- Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Spirit’s “Taurus”
- “How Copyright Law Hurts Music” (The Atlantic, 5/12/2011)
- Florida Supreme Court Rules that Oldies Recordings are Public Domain(10/26/2017)
- “Miley Cyrus Reaches Settlement in $300 Million ‘We Can’t Stop’ Lawsuit” (Rolling Stone, 1/4/2020)
- “Why Tracy Chapman Would Probably Win Her Lawsuit Against Nicki Minaj” (Pitchfork, 10/24/2018); “Nicki Minaj to Pay Tracy Chapman $450,000 in Copyright Infringement Lawsuit” (Pitchfork, 1/8/2021); Nicki Minaj Isn’t Bisexual (nlgja)
- Tracy Chapman v. Nicki Minaj (GWU Law School)
- Fair Use/Derivative Work
- Parody: Weird Al Yankovic
- ‘Eat It” [Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”]
- “Bob” [Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”]
- “Amish Paradise” [Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”]
- Parody: Weird Al Yankovic