Music and Property

July 26, 2008 by AaronFox

This class considers the question:"what does it mean to 'own' music?" While we begin with a discussion of the philosophical issues entailed in this question, we turn quickly to two primary subjects: the debates over digital "filesharing" and the debates over the disposition of "field"recordings of Native American and other indigenous musical traditions. We consider the ideas of "copyright," "intellectual property," and "cultural property" through case studies, and through close readings of major portions of Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture and Michael Brown's Who Owns Native Culture? We will spend the last part of the course exploring the instructor's ongoing project to repatriate recordings of Iñupiat ("Eskimo") songs made in 1946, and currently"owned" by Columbia University, in partnership with the Iñupiat community of Alaska's North Slope. Through a close look at "community partnered" musical repatriation in Alaska, we will examine the many legal, ethical, and cultural complexities that shape concepts of "ownership"and practices of owning and controlling these recordings. Students will be expected to write two short (5-10 page) papers and one final original research paper (15-20 pages) dealing with music for which ownership and rights of use are contested. Other assignments will include developing a bibliography and an outline for the final paper.

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