Mixed Tapes and the Law

Great editorial by Cedric Muhammed at allhiphop.com: http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/editorial/archive/2010/09/14/22386152.aspx.

His discussion about the demise of the mixed tape provides yet another angle to consider how standard intellectual property law and recording industry contracts failed to nourish hip-hop. Rather hip-hop artists have regularly been forced to operate outside of the typical industry practices and in the shadows of the law. This obviously has effected the growth of artists, the relationship between the underground and more commercial forms of hip-hop, distribution deals, etc. While most IP scholars (myself included) have focused on the controversies and cases around sampling, mix tapes suggest how copyright doctrines tended to work against new and up-coming artists. The interesting thing is that many artists not only had to challenge fair use challenges but also how the system for distributing music worked in concert with copyright to limit the market for their work. Muhammed also suggests how the interlocking of copyright law and music distribution networks were designed to hurt small African American record stores.