SSTLR

By Jason R. Wachter

ABSTRACT:
Every night of the week club-goers wait in line for hours to get into the hottest clubs in some of the hottest cities in the world. If they are lucky enough to get past the velvet ropes and through the club doors, in a matter of minutes, they could hear the music of as many as ten different artists ranging from the likes of Madonna, the Rolling Stones, and Nirvana to Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, and Snoop Dogg blended into one musical track. This unique phenomenon in the music industry is the work of celebrity disc jockeys (“DJs”), who splice, scratch, and mix classic and popular songs together to create an entertaining musical work of their own. These creations are so entertaining, in fact, that celebrity DJs have developed a new music industry phenomenon that club-goers, club owners, and even radio stations have come to depend on night after night.

Celebrity DJs have created such a demand for their services that they are able to earn up to $1,000 per hour. Most celebrity DJs have “residences” at various nightclubs, often performing a few nights a week. However, due to their popularity and demand, there are times when celebrity DJs may perform at different events every night of the week in different cities across the country. In many cases, DJ performances at nightclubs are even broadcast live on radio stations or over the Internet allowing millions of listeners to enjoy their music. In addition, celebrity DJs pull in profits by hosting private celebrity parties and corporate events. One reason for this rise in the popularity of celebrity DJs is the advent of new technology, which allows not only professionals, but amateurs to remix and package music in their homes with increasing ease and clarity. But is this new age of the celebrity DJ all it is cracked up to be?

“If hip hop should die before I wake I’ll put an extended clip and body ‘em all day! Roll to every station, wreck the DJ!” Commentators suggest that these lyrics to Nas’ latest hit single refer to the rapper’s growing disdain for the commercialization of the hip hop industry. Perhaps, however, his sentiments foreshadow the future of the music industry as a whole in light of changing technologies that threaten to compromise artists’ rights in their musical works. While listeners enjoy reveling in the musical works of celebrity DJs, what do these newly created works mean for the artists whose songs are used to create them?

When DJs perform at nightclubs or create mixes available for listening over the radio or Internet, there is a possibility that they are infringing on the rights of artists whose songs they are using. Under the 1976 Copyright Act (“Copyright Act”), musicians can gain protection in their works by fixing them in a tangible medium. Once copyright protection is established, artists’ rights may be infringed through others’ reproduction of copyrighted works, preparation of derivative works using copyrighted works, distribution of copyrighted works, and public performances of copyrighted works. However, DJs may gain protection from accusations of infringement by raising defenses such as fair use, de minimis sampling, and compulsory and permissive licenses. Nonetheless, there are broader concerns for artists whose songs are being wrongfully distorted by DJs as a result of the splicing and remixing of their musical works with those of others. Did AC/DC ever envision that their classic hits would one day be remixed and played simultaneously with a Jay-Z track? Perhaps this new age of the celebrity DJ creates the need, once and for all, for a balance between DJs’ use of musical works a moral rights regime in the United States.

Part II of this note discusses the advent of digital technologies which have allowed DJs to remix copyrighted music to create and distribute their own artistic works. This section examines technology that makes it easy even for amateurs to create their own musical mixes, increasing the potential for even more widespread copyright infringements. Part III of this note examines relevant copyright law and moral rights issues that arise in the context of music splicing, including arguments both for and against continued DJ splicing in our current legal landscape. Part IV analyzes the issues discussed in Part III and sets out a recommendation for how copyright law should address the problems raised by the advent of this new age of digital music. This section also addresses whether or not changes need to be made to the copyright law to better protect artists’ rights. Part V concludes this note.

NOTE: Footnotes in this abstract were omitted.