BoingBoing pal (and former guestblogger) Todd Lappin points us to yet another food fight between copyright and Remix Culture.
DJ Danger Mouse remixed Jay-Z's "Black Album" with the Beatles "White Album" to create… The "Grey Album," of course.
The New Yorker had a little Talk of the Town piece on this, Apparently, Jay-Z created a vocals-only version of his album *explicitly* so DJs could remix it. And many have. This week, the Beatles issued a cease and desist to stop the Grey Album… which of course makes the Grey Album even more desirable as a collector's item, so now the whole album is available for download. Here's the commentary above the download links:
"Special interests, including the major labels, have turned copyright law into a weapon," said Downhill Battle co-founder Holmes Wilson. "If Danger Mouse had requested permission and offered to pay royalties, EMI still would have said no and the public would never have been able to enjoy this critically acclaimed work. Artists are being forced to break the law to innovate."
So is the Grey Album any good? Hell yes! I've been listening to it for a few days, and it grows on me more and more with each listen.
Link.
UPDATE: Andy from Waxy.org, the fellow behind the download link referenced above, says "Just received a DMCA violation notice from EMI about the copy of the "Grey Album" I have online. I took the MP3s offline." And a sekrit BB reader says, "HERE (MP3 link) is another place to get the grey album. I know waxy can't post it .. but we can! and did. please tell the people."
