Striking the Right Chord: A Theoretical Approach to Balancing Artists' Intellectual Property Rights on Remix Audio-Sharing Platforms

Abstract

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 R I. BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 R A. The Rise of Remix Culture and the Copyright Backlash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 R B. Licensing Sampling-Based Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 R C. Remixes and the Fair Use Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 R II. A REMIXER’S LABOR OF LOVE: LOCKEAN THEORY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 R A. An Introduction to Locke’s Labor Theory . . . . . . 221 R B. A Lockean Approach to Intellectual Property and Remix Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 R C. The Law of Accession and the Improving Remixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 R III. FOSTERING MUSICAL CREATION: UTILITARIAN THEORIES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 R A. The Tragedy of the Free Rider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 R B. The Freedom in the Commons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 R IV. THE SOUL BEHIND THE SONGS: PERSONHOOD THEORY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 R A. An Introduction to Personhood Theory . . . . . . . . 234 R B. The Personhood Right in Remix Culture . . . . . . . 235 R CONCLUSION: SOLVING THE REMIX RIGHTS STALEMATE . . . . . . . . 237 R