Oct 18–21, 2018
100 Years of Copyright
Concerts, talks, films, installations, performances, publication
Oct 18–21, 2018
A titanic struggle is currently raging over copyright: Publishers and labels are battling over exploitation and remuneration with representatives of the digital economy. Where are the interests of the artists and consumers while the future conditions for creative work are being negotiated? How is cultural production impaired when copyright and artistic freedom are played against one another?
The evolution of the cultural industry and mass media in the twentieth century shaped the form and assertive force of legal protection for music as intellectual property. While the copyright-based business model is defended on behalf of creatives, it is getting harder for them to earn a living on the basis of pre-digital laws. 100 Years of Copyright highlights the strengths and weaknesses of these legal concepts, their interactions with cultural norms and musical practices: what should, what can copyright protect? What is an original? Who owns the rights and who earns money with them? And how has creative circumvention and disregard of copyright promoted musical innovation?
Den Sorte Skole will open the festival: Composed of set pieces from outside sources, their sampled symphonies create a prism of places and times – and are impossible to copyright. Talks and lectures explore concepts of authorship and the ethics of copying in music, (post) colonial implications, and questions of applicability. Jamaican riddims will be the focus with the DJ and dub pioneers Dennis Alcapone and Mad Professor and dancehall legend Sister Nancy. Just like the Tecno Brega by Gang do Eletro, the multimedia collages by People Like Us turn copyright principles upside down. Ekki Maas’s General Salty and His Original Rubber Band plays with the limits of similarity; a sound-alike that imitates a famous album without being identical.
Curated by Detlef Diederichsen
Part of 100 Years of Now
