COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money. The film traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than 30 years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.”

Clip #2 after the jump

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Tags: Copyright Criminals, Independent Lens, PBS