Information Ecology | James Boyle, A Song's Tale: Mashups, Borrowing, and the Law

Professor James Boyle describes the history of a single song - protesting the government's inept response after Hurricane Katrina - and its century-old lineage in the work of Kanye West, Ray Charles, and others. Each borrowed from others, yet they borrowed in different ways, with different legal rules, in different musical cultures. At the end, we can sense how future music may be shaped and what our musical culture may give up in the process. Sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Public Domain.

Recorded on: Nov. 24, 2008