So, just this past weekend, a talented young director - AC - made a music video for my song "Beautiful and Broken" using a pastiche of images from the Japanese animated series "FLCL".
This video is essentially like most hip-hop and R&B tracks today - it takes existing material and cuts it up to create something fresh and new. In other words, the video uses visual samples in just the same way that Just Blaze used audio samples in "Show Me What You Got" (Jigga's first single from Kingdom Come), and countless hip hop DJs have done right from the beginning of hip hop. Using visual samples in this way has become a popular trend among anime fans in the US - they even have music video competitions at anime conventions to showcase what is a very unique and innovative way of creating visual meaning for sound (or aural meaning for existing visuals). Now, because the Japanese animation industry doesn't really keep track of what fans are doing in the US (and probably because not much money is being made from these sampled videos), no legal issues have yet arisen. As a result, the art-form has flourished, which certainly would not have happened if copyright lawyers were breathing down video-creators' necks. But, should the original anime creators be compensated for such use? Should AC and I pay the folks that made FLCL?
Basically, should we always have to clear samples? (clearing, for those that might not know, is when you get permission from the original copyright holder to use pieces of his/her song in your song). When the Fugees sampled for "Ready or Not" they didn't clear the sample with the original owner, the song blew the f&%$ up, and they ended up paying all the royalties from that single to the original copyright holder of the sample used (TRIVIA: What was the sample used in "Ready or Not?" ;) ). But several independent artists (especially in hip hop) use samples in a lot of their music, and might not have the resources to clear these samples. Requiring them to do so might limit innovation in music, or unfairly bankrupt folks that just be tryin' to make a hot beat!
What's the right balance between our creative freedom and compensating the original creators? Did I just break the law with this video?
Check the video, and let's talk about this....
Peace and soul,
Shu