Event overview
020 7919 7645
This symposium addresses the tensions between copying and copyright control, and asks what we mean by originality, creativity and invention.
Musicians have always copied from other musicians. Beethoven copied (and modified) passages from Mozart; John Lennon copied (and modified) passages from Chuck Berry. Beethoven didn’t get hit with lawsuits, but Lennon did: even if he participated in a long history of musical creativity based on sharing and borrowing, the Beatle was caught at a place and time in which intellectual property had become legally enshrined and protected.
Systems of copyright are recent, and notions of originality are in flux. Still copying has often come to be seen in negative terms: as a mark of laziness or failure, as inauthentic or exploitative. Yet there are many kinds of copying, and musicians have used pastiche, allusion and sampling techniques not just to get going or to get on, but also to make inventive and innovative music.
Meanwhile, widely accepted ideas of ownership and belonging have been thrown into confusion by the internet: in music’s production and consumption, practices of making and sharing have been transformed as new ideas around the creative commons emerge.
More than ever, popular music creativity is at odds with the imperatives of intellectual property. Working within a tradition can seem to conflict with ideas of originality; appealing to the commons can mean opposing the individuality enshrined in copyright law.
This symposium addresses the tensions between copying and copyright control, and asks what we mean by originality, creativity and invention.
Confirmed participants include
John Street
Adam Behr
Ananay Aguilar
Tom Farncombe
Vicki Bennett, People Like Us
Guy Baron
Ian Gardiner
Issie Barratt
For further details about the Popular Music Research Unit and links to the participants go to the PMRU page.
Image: John Lennon and Chuck Berry
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 8 May 2015 | 10:30am - 5:30pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
