Fair Use allows a person to copy part of a copyrighted material for criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research. Under Fair Use, the user does not need to ask for permission or pay a fee to use the material. For example, Dr. Lou can copy part of a textbook for the class to read for educational purposes without needing to ask permission from the author of the book.
Transformative Use is a newer addition to Fair Use laws, that allows a person to copy part of a copyrighted material without permission or payment to the copyright holder if they transform the work into something new and original. It must hold a completely different meaning than that of the original work.
Girl Talk takes parts of well known songs and transforms them into one new song. Under Transformative Use, he should be protected because he transforms these bits of songs into something completely different than that of the original song.
This seems to be no different than a research paper building off of the knowledge of writers before them. Not once in my college career did I need to ask permission or need to pay a fee to quote another research paper in my own paper. It was always allowed so long as I cited the source.
The difference in Girl Talk and a research paper boils down to money. The people who are angry at Girl Talk are the corporations that could make millions of dollars if they were able to charge Girl Talk for each song that he uses in creating his own music. However, the people who go see Girl Talk in concert are going to hear what he has created from taking bits and pieces from other music. They are not going to listen to that one clip he borrowed from Jay-Z, because it is not comparable to Jay-Z's music or concerts. He has created something completely new and expanded on what we consider music. For this he, and other "samplers", should be allowed to continue to create new music and protected under Transformative and Fair Use laws.
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