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An company that specializes in sneakily placing product-names in pop-song lyrics (!!) screwed up and accidentally approached an anti-advertising activist for money to include his nonexistent "product" in a pop song -- the activist strung them along and got tons of poop:

This article is about creative commons, and how music artists are starting to prefer it over traditional copyright. Artists such as "Chuck D and the Fine Arts Militia" released their new single under creative commons, and encouraged people to copy it, mix it, criticize it and other things. Now the song has been incorporated into new types of music and videos, and every time those are viewed, it links back to the original artist, giving them immediate popularity. Once other artists saw how this was giving the band more fans, they started releasing their songs under creative commons as well. Copyright laws provide limited flexibility, and make it harder for artists to get as many fans as they would if they released their songs under Creative Commons. Artists and authors have been saying that creative commons allows others to "build upon their creativity -- without calling a lawyer first." Now, artists are making half of their money off downloads and the other half off licensing fees. However, while many artists and authors are starting to release their work under creative commons, others like major movie studios or record labels will not, because they already make plenty of money off the current traditional copyright system.

Creative Commons licenses are changing the media sharing environment of the internet. When people share media with a creative commons label, anybody is allowed to download, upload, and share it for free. This is good for artists who want to grow their fan bases, but bad for companies who are looking to profit from their work.

The popular band black eyed peas is facing dual lawsuits for two of their popular songs that were released in their new album the E.N.D. This article explains the details of who an why those singer/songwriters are suing and point out a pattern that both the peas and there recording groups, universal records and universal music group, have engaged in "a pattern and practice of intentional copyright infringement with respect to the unlawful copying of songs of unknown or lesser-known artists." This article portrays the ongoing pattern of copyright lawsuits that have arisen due to advancements in the digital music business, and is just one example of many high profile lawsuits with millions of dollars involved. (The two songs that they are accused of stealing combined for a total of 10.7 digital units sold).

"I can't afford to pay any amount. It's not a matter of won't, it's a matter of I can't." In Minnesota, this is the response that Jammie Thomas-Rasset made about paying 1.5 million dollars for the illegal sharing of music online. Each of the 24 songs that she illegally violated copyrights on is $62,500. Her defense is that she can't afford to pay that kind of money, especially since she is the mother of four children. Sharing over 1,700 songs on Kazaa, a file-sharing site, the Recording Industry of America, on numerous occasions, had tried to settle with the woman at $5,000. The stubborn Thomas-Rasset refused and was criticized for not taking responsibility for her actions. Due to all these problems, Jammie was taken on trial and was proven guilty. Jammie persistently denies her use of Kazaa and is willing to keep fighting. Many people are in the same position as Jammie, and as the saying goes, "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time."

Published May 23, 2006. Creative Commons License was a controversial topic. The major objection to Creative Commons licensing was whether it was really sprouting creativity; many who did not agree with creative commons believed that it was allowing people to download free songs and that no creativity was needed to make a mashup by combining various artists' works into one song. Simon Lake, the CEO of a not-for-profit company called Screenrights argued that '"there's a certain arrogance in believing you can do whatever you want to someone else's output. To say copyright stifles creativity is ridiculous. If you put those two things together, copyright is the end process, it's what protects creativity. And to suggest that copying is creating is ridiculous."' However, others disagreed and said that it in fact was the contrary. People, like Jim Moynihan, found that copyrights actually "force you to be more creative." In the end however, creative commons allows artists more freedom and the ability to selectively restrict certain works as copyrighted and to allow other works to be public and accessible. But it is illegal to use unauthorized media in mashups, sampling, and remixes; posing the justified potential threat, to many DJs and creators of reworked media, of lawsuits and getting sued.

The article is about a case regarding a violation to the Copyright Act. Whitney Harper, a high school cheerleader, participated in infringing activity on LimeWire between the ages 14-16, claiming that she thought she was simply internet radio streaming. With this "innocent infringer's" defense, she is requesting a $200 fine per song to the Recording Industry of America as opposed to the Copyright Act's minimum $750 per song fine. This would result in a total payment of $7,400 rather than $27,750. The final decision has not yet been made, and the justices of the Supreme Court have the option of taking the case and issuing a ruling, or declining to hear it. The author takes a very neutral viewpoint on the issue, expressing the opinions on both sides of the case. He presents the information in a very factual rather than biased way, and concludes the article in a non-opinionated manner. David Kravets is a technologist, political scientist, humorist, and reporter.

Great song, very powerful video

Date issued: June 26, 2006. This article is basically about a three-day conference that was held in Rio De Janeiro. A rare global alliance of artists, scientists, and lawyers met to discuss working towards creating a "creative commons," which would give artists the privilege of deciding which rights they wished to maintain and which to share. "In its broadest form, the Creative Commons system allows creators and consumers of culture not only to view or listen to a digital work but also to copy, remix or sample it, as long as the originator is properly credit" Gilberto Gil, who is a singer-songwriter as well as Brazil's culture minister and an advocate of overhauling the global copyright, also attended the conference. Gil spoke about his six year battle in court with publishing companies to recover ownership of his work. Which now exceeds more than 400 songs which Gil has all registered with Creative Commons-he has retained the rights of some but had made others available for listeners to interpret, copy and manipulate as they please. The author of this article, Larry Rohter, appears to be mostly reporting. He doesn't blatantly state his opinion on the subject, however the article is one sided, in favor of Creative Commons and all the artists struggling to gain the copy rights of their work. He is for Creative Commons.

This article basically takes note of the fact that in this world today, originality is not really that abundant, a prospect which can be noticed when one takes a look at, for example, the remakes of The A-team and The Karate Kid over the summer. More specifically, the article deals with the controversy that Kanye West faces with Virginia rapper, Vince P. (Vincent Peters) on the basis that West had stolen the basis for his 2007 hit "Stronger" from Mr. Peter's 2006 song "Stronger".

Date Issued: September 23, 2010. With Eric Pffaner's indifferent views on this article and issue, he presents an informative position, giving quotes from different opinions. The Spanish Court supported Google's YouTube instead of Telecinco, in an argument about copyright issues. In Spain, users of YouTube are now allowed to upload any clips as long as they are approved by the owners or members in these videos. The judge in Madrid still understood the serious content on copyrighted material and the complications they cause. Many individuals are opposed to this regulation because it is thought of to be "free entertainment." Even in Germany a new rule of YouTube was to pay compensation to the musicians when their songs were uploaded without their permission. Content ID, owned by Google, notifies the media owners when their content is uploaded onto YouTube without their authorization, so the holders could ask the site to take the clips down. Ever since a video of an autistic boy was bullied by his classmates, aired on different video-sharing services, there have been much more supervision and strict management over these websites. Defending itself, YouTube has said it was an "Internet service provider," rather than a television broadcaster, because these hosting services are considered more liable than others. Also, because YouTube is a very public, wide-ranged, website, the sale of advertisements have increased because many individuals visit the popular site.

fascinating acount of "universal" melodies -

Masterworks Broadway Podcast of an Interview of Max Crumm Date Broadcasted - October 2, 2007 Genre - Broadway Max Crumm went through a lot to get his role in Grease as Danny Zuko such as being on a reality T.V. show. His interest in musicals started when he was very young, and now he finally is able to be in one. Masterworks Broadway has many podcasts having to do with Broadway and interviews with people who work behind the scenes on a specific show or people who are in the show. Max Crumm joins Masterworks Broadway to speak about what it is like to be in Grease, and how he got to where he is today.

NPR: 50 Great Voices is a weekly music oriented podcast. Every week the broadcast showcases a relatively unheard amazing vocalist whom they wish to share with their listeners. Each week of the year a new singer is brought on the show, this episode was broadcasted on February 1, 2011. This week's episode was focused on a jazz/pop singer named Dianne Reeves who the show was interested in because of the fact that she'd so beautifully mixed the two genres. The show provides a brief background history of the singer, i.e. what they've done in the past, who they've worked for, and what records they appear on. After listening to the two songs by Dianne Reeves the show provided I have come to the conclusion that she is an exceptionally talented woman, who is way worth listening to and in the future I would like to see new pieces of her career become public.