Half the Story: Copyright Criminals Review

Creativity rarely just creates itself. It takes inspiration from other creative works to influence others, and so on. But when does inspiration breathing life into new forms art bleed over into theft? That’s the topic explored by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod’s documentary, “Copyright Criminals”.

The documentary focuses on the sampling of DJ’s of 80’s and 90’s of music acts that came before them. Examples include iconic groups Public Enemy, De La Soul and Beastie Boys who sampled primarily from funk musicians like George Clinton and James Taylor’s drummer Clyde Stubblefield, the inventor of “The Funky Drummer”, as well as more current artists like Eclectic Method, who sample from TV and movies in conjunction with music to create their art.

Experts in all fields were questioned for a wide range of information. Lawyers, the sampling musicians and the musicians that were sampled were all interviewed. Those that sampled were asked about why they felt they could sample, and those that were sampled asked about how they felt about it. Also, Lawyers explained the legality behind copyright laws and how they applied to the music industry. Clips from shows and music videos were also shown in a split-screen with the interviews, giving an additional visual aid to what the interviewees were talking about.

The film also delved into the potential racial inequality. It’s no secret that most hip-hop artists are predominantly black, especially ones in the 80’s, so the notion that they were being prejudiced and sued because of racial discrimination isn’t out of line. But this idea was more or less touched upon, not really explored.

The opinions of those interviewed were organized so that while juxtaposed against each other, they weren’t in direct contrast or ping-pongy; everyone had an equal opportunity to speak their mind and share their story. But, while it was all fair and balanced- there was little to no indication on how the documentaries felt about the subject. While objectivity is valued, one would assume that to go out of their way to make the film, they would have an opinion on the subject and want to share it.

The film did manage to get angles from all, if not most, sides of the issue- but its lack of opinion and general feeling of ambivalence made it feel like it had no point, except for perhaps a shallow look into the world of sampling music.