Mashups occur when you pull information from one place and pull information from another place and “mash” them together to make a new product of the blended materials. A way of looking at is illustrated in the reading Mashups: The New Breed of Web Ap. The author states, “A new breed of Web-based data integration applications is sprouting up all across the Internet their popularity stems from the emphasis on interactive user participation and the monster-of which they aggregate and stich together third-party data.” (Merrill, Pg1) One good example of a mashup is the mashup called “Maps Krieg” which is a blend of Craigslist apartments listings and GoogleMaps blended together so that apartment hunters can find their dream apartments in a convenient way. This is a cool example of a mashup.
There are a lot of mashups that occur on the Internet that are cool and funny but then there are others that impose on copyright infringement. In the reading, Grey Album Producer Danger Mouse Explains How He Did It, the author explained how the producer Danger Mouse mashed up Jay Z’s “The Black Album” and The Beatles famous “The White Album” and came up with an idea to make The Grey Album. He stated, “Three months and a cease-and-desist letter later the album is at the center of a massive downloading debate and is the most in-demand piece of media since the Paris Hilton sex tape.” (Corey-Moss. Pg.3) So, immediately thereafter the producer received a letter to stop doing this mashup. In other words, it was illegal to do so because of the copyright infringement.
The definition of copyright is that it is a legal protection given to authors of original works, like songs, paintings and novels. Copyright owners get certain exclusive rights to their works, and can also limit others from using their works in certain cases. (Rocket Lawyer Pg. 1) Mashups wholeheartedly seem to be illegal. In the article by Rocket Lawyer, it states, “At face value, mashups appear to epitomize copyright infringement, but the situation isn’t quite so cute and dry.” (Rocket Lawyer, Pag.1) Even though most people see mashups as a form of freedom of speech and sometimes you still can get away with it is still touching on copyright infringement. I believe that it isn’t against the law and I do believe it is a freedom of speech because you are just taking two songs and mixing them up like a mix tape. Most mashup artists find ways like using P2P networks where it still falls under “fair use” but copyright problems still can occur. (Rocket Lawyer Pg.2) In any event the world of mashups is here to stay even with copyright infringement issues.
Works Cited
Mashups: The New Breed of Web Ap. An Introducton to Mashups. Duane. Merrill
Grey Album Producer Danger Mouse Explains How He Did It, Corey-Moss Pg 3
https://www.rocketlawyer.com/blog/mashups-and-sampling-whats-fair-use-97506 Pg.1
https://www.rocketlawyer.com/blog/mashups-and-sampling-whats-fair-use-97506 Pg.1
