Copyright queries

Last night I went and saw Australian DJ duo Peking Duk perform at the Corner Hotel and without getting in to too much detail about how insane it was or how extreme my post-gig depression is, let’s just say it was pretty bloody good.

The one thing that compromised the quality of my night was my little ‘media-voice’ in the back of my mind wondering if they had legal rights to use all the songs they incorporated. After discussing musicians’ access to the work of others in the Network Media symposium a few weeks ago, I spent the whole night thinking about the process they would have gone through to be legally able to use the songs of others in their remixes – which they make a lot of money from in both sales and at gigs.

The pair behind the music in this band seem like pretty laid back dudes and are friends with some of the musicians they borrow songs from, so I can’t exactly imagine them pursuing strict guidelines in regards to getting proper legal rights to content. I guess they probably have a whole team of managers and assistants taking care of this business for them. That would make a whole lot more sense.

Since the gig I’ve been left halfway between annoyed and impressed with these thoughts lingering in my mind. I never anticipated my love for music would combine with my love for studying media in such a way.

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