Fair Use Law

Fair Use has always been a tricky subject. Not only is it set of laws and regulations, but it also relies heavily on personal discretion. A creator of something doesn't necessarily have to take action toward someone else using their work.

The mash up dj Girl Talk is a great example of this. He consistently uses bits and pieces from other artists' work. There is always a constant thought that the original creators of the songs he uses could come to him later asking for royalties which could turn into an exorbitant amount of money depending on the popularity of the artist or the song in general. Fair Use regulations would technically state that he can't use this music without having the right to.

Some would state that this could also be constituted as transformative use based on how much of a song he actually uses. Sometimes he may also use one little drum hit or a piece of a horn or something like that. Yes he did take these things from a copyrighted recording, but it may not really be enough to warrant reaction from the original artist.

All of these considerations make for a very controversial argument about Girl Talk's case. Hopefully, for the sake of his fan base, there won't be any prosecution of his work for copyrights. While his work isn't as relevant now as it used to be, he does have 5 albums out that haven't been touched. I suppose we will have to see in the future.