DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

[Balanc3]

Would this still be illegal if he went through a publishing company to pay the artists royalties for selling mixtapes? I've been told that you can sell your mix CD's online, but must go through another agency to make it legit.

Taken from Slashdot.org

"The RIAA is now going after mixtapes; specifically, the well-known mixtapes of rap artist DJ Drama. From the article: 'On Tuesday night he was arrested with Don Cannon, a prot?g?. The police, working with the Recording Industry Association of America, raided his office, at 147 Walker Street in Atlanta. The association makes no distinction between counterfeit CDs and unlicensed compilations like those that DJ Drama is known for.' The story goes on to say that many of the artists featured on the mixtapes would never have had the exposure and thus sales they had if DJ Drama had not featured them on a mix. Nowhere is a specific artist mentioned who claims to have been wronged by him. Additionally, the article states that mixtapes such as those made by DJ Drama are an accepted and integral part of rap music culture. His arrest is confusing on several levels."

[thesightless]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

1. yes
2. yes, also if he werent a bonehead charging for mix tapes. for some reason, a mix tape being shared hasnt been targeted for piracy. which essentially makes it legal. if he gave em up for free, no one would arrest him.

[Huggie Smiles]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

most of the biggest names DJ have "promo' mixes for d/load on their sites

but they are for free - but techniclly the artists arent getting paid so........

[Lorn]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

but they are getting heard.

[SyntaxTerror]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

Yeah I'm fairly certain free promos are considered illegal.

All I can say is sucked in to the guy. What he was doing is as bad as piracy (it IS piracy), and he was making a nice little profit off it.

[day_for_night]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

a free promo mix is NOT illegal, at least from what i've read. depends on your country though

[SyntaxTerror]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

You're downloading copyrighted material of artist's tracks without their permission. Seems pretty illegal to me.

The fact that the intro and outro are mixed in to another track doesn't make it any less of a track. It's illegal.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

if he gave em up for free, no one would arrest him.

Aparently from watching all kinds of documentaries on Hip Hop. I can conclude that almost no Hip Hop dj gives away his mixtapes. They make them like dig named dj's do...except they sell them in local shops and hand to hand. Therefore they really need to get the artists permission to use the song. Just as the Big dj's do with commercial Cds.

If all these rap guys stood up for the guy in court, it could get thrown out. But saying and doing are two completely different things.

[SyntaxTerror]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

Aparently from watching all kinds of documentaries on Hip Hop. I can conclude that almost no Hip Hop dj gives away his mixtapes. They make them like dig named dj's do...except they sell them in local shops and hand to hand. Therefore they really need to get the artists permission to use the song. Just as the Big dj's do with commercial Cds.

If all these rap guys stood up for the guy in court, it could get thrown out. But saying and doing are two completely different things.

Same as here in Australia (and the UK). The early rave scene was heavy on mixtapes. DJs would sell their tapes in the local record shops. It's illegal.

So are modern day DJ promos. Just because they're not for profit doesn't make it legal.

For more information check this website, it answers the question for you guys:

http://creativecommons.ca/index.php?p=mixtapes

The same rules apply to mp3 promos. I'm sure this will come as a major shock to most of you but they ain't legal.

[thesightless]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

breaking the law, breaking the law...
breaking the law, breaking the law...

[Kobe]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

R(naz)IAA

[Morgan]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

So basically, if your are a DJ who is paid to play in a club you must clear every track you play? Or are all records sold with a performance license?

[Yao]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

I think the club has to pay fees every year for the public performance of licenced tracks, if I'm correct. So they're cleared, by the clubs DJs play in.

[Lorn]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

Silly rules.

[day_for_night]

Re: DJ Drama arrested for selling mixtapes

the fact that mixtapes might be illegal to distribute despite not collecting money for them is beside the point. they don't enforce it, so its defacto legal...