The
Democracy of Sound: Music, Piracy and the Remaking of American
Copyright in the Twentieth Century Century by Alex Sayf Cummings
(Oxford University Press, 2013, 272 Pages, $29.95) makes a
persuasive argument for the positive elements gained from bootlegging
and even piracy in democratizing the distribution of recorded sound,
particularly music, to the broader world created by the creation of
new technologies and its spread worldwide. In a book based on his
doctoral dissertation at Columbia University, Cummings examines the
history of copyright law back almost to Gutenburg, with emphasis on
the legal precedents in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the
effects from the rise of new media and popular culture through the
influence of the counterculture, Deadheads and Hip Hop, and the
globalization of piracy. Much of the text is critical of court
support for establishment capital and organizations against the urge
to democratize sound, but is always balanced and scholarly in its
discussion of the role of the courts and business interests. The book
is remarkably free of cant and extreme rhetoric in its exploration
of this explosive topic.
One of the main issues that emerges in
this cleanly written text, is the difference between the interests of
the companies who reproduce and distribute music and those
individuals and groups who compose and perform it. This struggle has
persisted from the time sound was first recorded on foil and in piano
rolls in the nineteenth century through wax cylindars, 78 rpm
records, LP records, wire and tape recording, CD, and various schemes
of digital recording and distribution. At every technological
advance, there have been those who wish to reproduce the sounds and
distribute them for artistic and commercial purposes. The major
differntiation between piracy and bootlegging lies in the profit
motive of the former. Earliest bootleggers collected and traded
elusive copies of early jazz and blues performances to other
collectors, archivists, or curators wishing to save and distribute
these recordings to others of the same bent. These were usually
recordings that record companies did not find financially rewarding.
The invention of wire and then tape recordings made it possible for
such people to record entire operas from the Texaco Opera, a popular
feature in New York radio offered on Saturday afternoons (remember
Milton Cross?). They filled an important gap for grand opera fans
until recording companies found it profitable to make and distribute
opera recordings, an event that required LP, and later CD, recording.
On the other hand, pirates, who have
been around for quite a while themselves, operate under a different
set of rules and motivations. Typically, a pirate would remake
masters in order to press cheaper editions of hit music or repackage
it to produce “all-star” or “hits” recordings to bypass the
recording company practice (especially after the introduction of long
playing and then compact disk recording) of producing one or two hit
songs in the company of eight or ten lesser songs to fill out a
product, even though customers were only interested in owning the
hits. Such, usually illegal, reproduction was done entirely for
profit, which was possible for pirates who didn't bear the expense of
producing recordings or the losses incurred because an estimated
ninety percent of all recordings don't sell enough to recoup their
costs. Depending upon the time period and the state of the industry,
pirates have either been relentlessly pursued or quietly ignored.
Since the invention of the printing
press made the transcription and reproduction of music possible,
changing it from pure sound into a written medium, copying of music
has been a problem and a boon to musicians and composers. After each
technological change in music transcription, the courts have made it
esier to copyright works, extended the length of copyright
protection, and strengthened the recording industry's hold and
control of the composers and performers who make the music, always
arguing that it was they who took the risk. Cummings writes, “Piracy
and home recording are the new frontiers of the production of music,
harnessing technology and labor to make more music.” He also
argues that the effect has been to make music more available to those
of limited means who cannot afford corporate reproductions or who
live in the developing world not served by these companies, thus
enhancing the distribution of musical works. “Piracy filled the
cracks between official supply and real demand” on a worldwide
basis.
The unofficial release and distribution
of a bootleg recording of Bob Dylan's unreleased cuts in 1969 called
The Great White Wonder (GWW)
was the first rock bootleg release, and became a huge hit and an
avidly sought after collectible for Dylan and rock fans. Compiled
from a number of sources, it is now a collector's classic. The
Grateful Dead also represent an important milepost in the history of
bootleg recordings, since they encouraged recording of entire
concerts, which were later reproduced and distributed widely. They
also retained an archive of high quality recordings of these same
events which are now being released in small batches by the current
legal entity representing the band. A third major element in the
contemporary spread of bootlegging/pirating has been Hip Hop music,
much of which originated in urban clubs where DJ's mixed cuts from a
range of contemporary and historic recordings into a highly
listenable and danceable format. These mixes were later released as
recordings, serving the purpose of distributing the work of emerging
rappers. Recording companies soon found this market irresistable and
tried to limit its to the distribution of live mixes.
Cummings
details the development of copyright law from the late nineteenth
century until the present. Early copyright battles concerned the
machine on which recordings were made. Copyright law developed,
always somewhat behind the development of technology, and almost
always to the benefit of the corporations over the artists and
composers. ASCAP and BMI were founded to regulate the use of music in
restaurants, bars, and stores, only including radio in 1917. The
advent of digital distribution of sound over the Internet has only
complicated distribution of royalties, with artists coming in on the
low end of the scale. The history of the development of copyright
law is long, complicated, and essential reading for anyone wishing to
gain a thorough understanding of the current confused state of
affairs in the recording industry.
Alex Sayf Cummings
Alex
Sayf Cummings is a historian of law, media, and the American
landscape. His work examines how the ideological transition to an
“information society” reshaped American political culture and
economic policy, as well as the built environment. He received his BA
(2003) from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and PhD
(2009) from Columbia University, studying with Elizabeth Blackmar and
Barbara Fields. His first book, a history of music piracy and
intellectual property law in the United States, is forthcoming from
Oxford University Press. He has been the recipient of the Torbet
Prize, a Whiting Fellowship, and, most recently, a postdoctoral
fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.
Alex
Sayf Cummings has written a controversial and arresting book
presenting the arguments for and against restrictions on reproduction
and distribution of the work of artists and composers outside the
established norms of established patent and copyright in the most
highly developed nations. He concludes, “When an individual or
corporation's right to maximize profit becomes the only goal of
public policy, any stake of the broader community in the vast store
of human creativity, whether music, art, writing, or technology,
disappears from view.” He argues his case strongly and
persuasively, supported by careful scholarship and broad references.
Agree or disagree, this book deserves attention. The
Democracy of Sound: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American
Copyright in the Twentieth Century
by Alex Sayf Cummings is
published by Oxford University Press (2013, 272 pages, $29.95). I
received the book as a digital download from the publisher through
Edelweiss.
