Independent Lens Film Screening: “Copyright Criminals”
Can you own a sound? It depends who you ask. Hip-hop artists like Public Enemy and De La Soul have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new and original compositions for years. But when record company lawayers got involved everything changed. Trace the rise of hip-hop through the practice of sampling from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry.
Following the screening, BMAC trustee Joseph LoMonaco will moderate a panel discussion and Q&A featuring Marlboro College philosophy professor William Edelglass and music industry veterans Louis Erlanger, Jack Freudenheium, and Billy Straus.
William Edelglass is Professor of Philosophy at Marlboro College. He earned his Ph. D. at Emory University. Previously, he taught philosophy at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala, India. Edelglass’ areas of specialization include continental philosophy, environmental philosophy, and Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. He is Co-Editor of Environmental Philosophy, the journal of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy, and serves on the editorial board of several other professional journals.
Louis Erlanger has been a recording musician, record producer, and music publishing executive. As guitarist with the group Mink DeVille he appeared on the seminal punk rock recording “Live At CBGBs.” He has toured extensively, sharing stages with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Tom Petty, Blondie, Talking Heads, and others, and has contributed guitar to recordings by other major artists. For 13 years Erlanger was an executive at EMI Music Publishing, where he spearheaded new technology initiatives that resulted in EMI becoming the first major music publisher to provide music licensing services over the Web. He currently runs Glowing Pigs International, a consulting service for music and entertainment companies.
Jack Freudenheim studied drums with the legendary Kenny Clarke and Dante Agostini. He majored in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University, then played in several bands in New York City before turning to computers to become a programmer and electronic drummer. He co-founded the electronic pop band 46bliss in the mid-1990s. The band’s music has been heard on television shows such as “CSI: NY” and the teen hit “Veronica Mars.” As a software developer, Freudenheim created Sounder, a visual ambient-music generation program that Rolling Stone magazine called “a true original in the music-creation space.”
Billy Straus is a musician and producer whose songs have appeared in films, including Steve Martin’s “Leap Of Faith,” and many children’s television shows, including Disney’s “Little Einsteins” and the PBS series “Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego?” for which he won an Emmy Award. He produced “The Full Monty” original Broadway Cast recording for which he received a Grammy nomination. His other recording credits include work with artists as diverse Bruce Springsteen, Tito Puente, Joni Mitchell, and Miles Davis. Straus also founded Rock River Music, a leading producer of recorded music and CD compilations for distribution through retail brands and the internet. He has given testimony on copyright legislation to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at the request of Senator Leahy.
Admission: free
For more information on Copyright Criminals: www.copyrightcriminals.com
For more information on Independent Lens and Community Cinema: www.pbs.org/independentlens
BMAC is one of over 50 cultural organizations nationwide presenting Community Cinema, a free monthly screening series featuring films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Screenings are followed by lively discussions that bring together citizens, organizations, and public television stations to encourage dialogue and action around important and timely social issues.