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December 18, 2009

New PBS Doc 'Copy Criminals', On the History of Hip-Hop and Sampling, Airing Next Month...

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Hypebot:

Copyright Criminals, a new documentary that examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money will air on the PBS series Independent Lens January 19 (check local listings). 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, 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.




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