Monday, 10 October 2016

Attribution and Copyright

The popular rap song Rapper’s Delight produced by the group The Sugar Hill Gang undoubtedly sampled the bass riff from Chic’s Good Times. The bass riff in both songs sound extremely similar and are almost identical, this actually led to Sugar Hill records being sued over copyright and both groups received songwriter credits. There are however many acute differences in the bass riff between both songs. Good Times by Chic is written in the key of D and has eighth notes at the beginning of the base riff. Rapper’s Delight by The Sugar Hill Gang is written in the key of G and has three quarter notes to begin the bass riff. Rappers Delight also differs from Good Times by it being in a different genre of music, hiphop rap instead of disco. The sound and the feeling of the bass line in both songs greatly differ as well, Good Times is light,energetic and makes you want to get up and dance. The Sugar Hill Gang used the base riff was also different. The deep heavy bass notes make you want to sit down and enjoy the beat. Even the accompanying guitar music is written with more heavy and longer notes familiar to the genre hiphop rap.

The lyrics of the song Rapper’s Delight are entirely original . Rappers Delight is a very simple song with how it is performed. You have the bass line, the guitar accompaniment and the lyrics. The bass line and guitar music are remixed variations of the ones from Good Times. However according to copyright laws remixes can only be used for education and non commercial purposes. By not asking for Chic’s permission or giving them credit on the album’s writers section they were sued and were legally required to. They wrote their own raps and synced them up with the beat in a way that no one else had before them. It was an original approach to the song that was unique to The Sugar Hill Gang. However They did infringe on Chic’s copyright because the bass riff was a remix that was not legal under the copyright laws. The genre of music was different and none of the lyrics were copied and the feelings evoked from the song is entirely different but the song was still an infringement of Chic’s right.  

A set of guidelines that creators should follow when sampling from other content are as follows. Do not change a few notes here and there, that won't take away from the fact that the other approximate ninety eight percent is copied from the source. Insead change the key that it is played in and add slurs and ties, you can also change the dynamics and type of note that is played from say a quarter to a sixteenth or an eighth note. Another rule to follow is do not copy verses or lines from the sources lyrics. After the remix made from the sample is made reference the original creator in the writer's section.                         

    

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