Thursday, November 06, 2008

Bye, Boys and Girls

He was Jimmy Carl Black and he was the indian of the group. R.I.P.

3 comments:

BBM said...

seb, its kresimir. im glad you know of jimmy carl black and posted something about his passing. also, i heard kraftwerk lost a copyrights battle in DE against some rap producer "sampling does not constitute copyright infringement" i think was the exact radio quote from this trial.

Seb said...

Hey, man, good to hear from you! I apologize that it's been so long.

Yeah, pity about Jimmy Carl Black. Still, he had a good long run of it (as have pretty much all the marquee Mothers members, who are still kickin' well into their 70s) - unlike Frank.

As for the Kraftwerk lawsuit, it's only bad news in that it relies on the German courts' subjective decision as to whether the use of sampled material is in context of a measurably different work - kinda like SCOTUS justice Potter Stewart defined "pornography" as, "I know it when I see it." So this means Girl Talk is likely never to be sued in Germany, though someone who makes obvious & untransformative use of a sample (e.g. DJ Shadow nicking "Orion" for "The Number Song") is at the mercy of the aesthetic whims of the court.

If nothing else, it seems a little odd that Kraftwerk have decided to start suing people who sample 'em, what, twenty-five years after folks started doing it.

BBM said...

well were all kinda always at the mercy and whims of the court anyway. well, at least to a certain degree. regardless, how can you write a law that clearly states the legit use of samples?


i think Kraftwerk must have a reason for suing in this particular case. idk if they have sued anyone else, or if everyone else has paid them for use.

i used to say sampling is to music as collage is to art. now i say it is sometimes and other times i say it is an idiot who doesn't have a clue about making music.