Grey Tuesday

[see also:

http://www.downhillbattle.org/
http://www.greytuesday.org/

-o]

Grey Album Fans Protest Clampdown 

By Katie Dean 
02:00 AM Feb. 24, 2004 PT

http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62372,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

A record company's attempt to silence a popular remix has raised voices of 
protest among almost 200 websites, which are posting DJ Danger Mouse's The Grey 
Album online in defiance of the music industry's copyright control.

Musicians and music fans will host The Grey Album, a remix of music from The 
Beatles' White Album and rapper Jay-Z's Black Album, on their Web pages Tuesday. 
Those who don't want to host the music but support the cause will make their 
websites gray for the day. Six independent radio stations around the country 
will play the album Tuesday, said Holmes Wilson, co-founder of Downhill Battle, 
the group that organized the protest.

Danger Mouse caused a sensation when he released the album last month. But when 
EMI, which owns the rights to Beatles sound recordings, heard about the popular 
mix, lawyers for the label demanded that Danger Mouse stop selling his record. 
They claimed he had not asked permission or paid for the rights to use the 
music.

According to protesters, the Danger Mouse fiasco is a perfect example of how 
outdated copyright restrictions stifle creativity. The label's tactics show that 
"making money is a higher priority in the music industry than making music," 
said John Langton, a student and musician.

"Musicians have a right to make albums like The Grey Album, and when something 
great and culturally important like this album gets made, the public has the 
right to hear it," Wilson said.

He said he hopes people will download the album, see the work as art and work to 
change the current copyright system.

Rolling Stone magazine and The Boston Globe reviewed the album with praise.

The label said it's simply protecting its copyright.

"There are proper channels to go through," said Jeanne Meyer, a spokeswoman for 
EMI North America. "They've just been completely ignored in this case. The DJ 
didn't ask permission (and he) used the work in an unauthorized fashion."

"We authorize samples, we authorize remixes all the time," Meyer said.

But others argue that even if musicians want permission, they don't have the 
money or the lawyers to work through the proper channels.

"If you want to be creative you have to be signed to one of the major labels," 
said DJ Variable, a DJ and a producer from Philadelphia. "They're the only ones 
who will put up the money for sample clearance."

"It's like a glass ceiling out there for music," DJ Variable said. "If you start 
your own label and do your own thing, you can make a spark in the underground 
scene. If you get to be big, then the major labels are either going to sue you 
or sign you."

There is fierce support online for Danger Mouse's creation.

"I am hosting The Grey Album because it's a work of art," said John McHale, who 
runs a personal site called Team Good Guys. "It's a fantastic display of 
creativity. I mean, who would've ever thought of putting Jay-Z and The Beatles 
together?"

Those hosting the work will not be ignored, EMI's Meyer said. "EMI plans to take 
action as it does as a matter of course" but she declined to elaborate on what 
sort of "action" the label would take.

Those who plan to post the album aren't worried.

"I have nothing to gain from posting it other than feeling proud about standing 
up for something I believe in," McHale said. "I did not use a peer-to-peer 
service, so I really didn't use illegal means to obtain the record."

Still, as of Monday afternoon, several sites reportedly received cease-and-
desist letters from lawyers for Capitol Records, an EMI unit.

The Grey Album "is obviously so popular, I don't understand why EMI just won't 
sign a deal for this thing," said Glenn Otis Brown, executive director of 
Creative Commons. "It doesn't seem to be rational to me."

Brown said he was surprised that the labels don't recognize a win-win situation 
and license the songs to get a cut of the profits.

"Mixing together two old things is creating a new thing," Brown said. "It's 
surprising that the labels don't see this as a way to make money." 
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