Gray Matter

What do you get when you mix black and white? Gray, of course, along with a flurry of tersely worded cease-and-desist letters from IP attorneys. That�s what an underground disc jockey named Danger Mouse discovered recently after he digitally combined tracks from rap singer Jay-Z�s �Black Album� and music snippets from the Beatles� so-called �White Album� to create a limited-issue CD that he titled -- what else? -- the �Grey Album.�

X

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.
What do you get when you mix black and white? Gray, of course, along with a flurry of tersely worded cease-and-desist letters from IP attorneys. That’s what an underground disc jockey named Danger Mouse discovered recently after he digitally combined tracks from rap singer Jay-Z’s “Black Album” and music snippets from the Beatles’ so-called “White Album” to create a limited-issue CD that he titled — what else? — the “Grey Album.” Danger Mouse, whose real name is Brian Burton, neither sought nor obtained permission from any of the copyright holders before embarking on his adventure in musical odd coupling. As it turned out, Jay-Z and his label, Roc-A-Fella Records, had no objections to the Grey Album. But lawyers for Capitol Records, the U.S. unit of Britain’s EMI that licenses and distributes Beatles albums, promptly demanded that Burton halt production and sales of his CD. In response, scores of Web sites in late February enlisted in a one-day show of support for Danger Mouse’s artistic — albeit legally suspect — creation. Several sites on that day made the Grey Album available for downloading. Most, if not all, of those Web sites received pre-emptive cease-and-desist demands from Capitol’s lawyers at New York City’s Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman. All of the Grey Album tracks remain readily available on various file-sharing Web sites. Here’s a copy of the cease-and-desist letter aimed at Web sites that participated in the “Grey Tuesday” event. Click Herefor a PDF of the “cease-and-desist” letter. Viewing this PDF requires Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or later. You can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.

This content has been archived. It is available exclusively through our partner LexisNexis®.

To view this content, please continue to Lexis Advance®.

Not a Lexis Advance® Subscriber? Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® is now the exclusive third party online distributor of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® customers will be able to access and use ALM's content by subscribing to the LexisNexis® services via Lexis Advance®. This includes content from the National Law Journal®, The American Lawyer®, Law Technology News®, The New York Law Journal® and Corporate Counsel®, as well as ALM's other newspapers, directories, legal treatises, published and unpublished court opinions, and other sources of legal information.

ALM's content plays a significant role in your work and research, and now through this alliance LexisNexis® will bring you access to an even more comprehensive collection of legal content.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]

Trending Stories

 

Featured Product

Global Briefing

A weekly, curated selection of our international content from around the globe, across the business of law, in-house, regulatory, technology and more, with expert insights from our senior editors.

Learn More

More from ALM

 

ALM Legal Publication Newsletters

Sign Up Today and Never Miss Another Story.

As part of your digital membership, you can sign up for an unlimited number of a wide range of complimentary newsletters. Visit your My Account page to make your selections. Get the timely legal news and critical analysis you cannot afford to miss. Tailored just for you. In your inbox. Every day.

Privacy Policy

About Us / Contact Us / Site Map / Advertise With Us/ Customer Service / Terms of Service/ FAQ / Privacy Policy

Publications

Law Topics

Rankings

More

Law.com

Copyright © 2020 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All Rights Reserved.