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Attachment: CC-CopyrightCriminalsUpdatePR.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS REMIX CONTEST EXTENDED UNTIL MARCH 14
New Vocal Samples from Chuck D and George Clinton Made Available for Use

San Francisco, CA, USA – February 15, 2006

Creative Commons, along with filmmakers Kembrew McLeod and Ben  
Franzen, today announced that due to overwhelmingly positive  
response, the Copyright Criminals Remix Contest has been extended by  
two weeks, ending on March 14. Additionally, new vocal samples from  
influential rapper Chuck D (of Public Enemy) and pioneering funk  
musician George Clinton (of Parliament and Funkadelic) have been made  
available for use in the competition.

Winners will be chosen according to the same criteria as originally  
announced; no other contest details are changed.

The Copyright Criminals Remix Contest encourages producers, DJs, and  
remixers from around the world to use audio snippets from the  
upcoming documentary film Copyright Criminals in new, original songs.  
One winner will have his/her music featured prominently in the final  
edit of Copyright Criminals. The winning track, along with 11 runners- 
up, will be included on the film’s companion CD. The contest is going  
on now at ccMixter.org.

Drawing from more than fifty interviews with prominent musicians,  
artists, scholars, lawyers, and music industry representatives,  
Copyright Criminals looks at the development of sound collage (also  
known as sampling). The film explores the complicated impact that  
copyright law has had on the creative practice of sampling and  
studies the conflicting opinions artists and others have about  
appropriation.

Samples of dialogue by artists like De La Soul, DJ Qbert, Matmos,  
Coldcut, and members of Negativland – all taken from interviews  
conducted for Copyright Criminals – are available online at the  
popular remix community ccMixter.org for use as source material to be  
included in entrants’ songs. Entries will be judged by McLeod,  
Franzen, and author/producer Jeff Chang. Contest rules and details  
are available at ccMixter.org.

About the judges

Kembrew McLeod is a professor at the University of Iowa and an award- 
winning independent documentary filmmaker. McLeod has written music  
criticism for Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, and MOJO; and has  
authored two books, most recently Freedom of Expression®: Overzealous  
Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity (Doubleday).

Ben Franzen is an Atlanta-based artist who owns an independent  
production company called Changing Images LLC, which specializes in  
video, photography, and multimedia. Franzen edits the animated TV  
program Squidbillies, which appears as part of the Cartoon Network’s  
Adult Swim line-up.

Jeff Chang is the author of the American Book Award-winning Can't  
Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. In 1993, he co- 
founded and ran the influential indie hip-hop label, SoleSides (now  
called Quannum Projects), helping launch the careers of DJ Shadow,  
Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, and Lateef the Truth Speaker. He has  
helped produce over a dozen records.

About Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that promotes the  
creative re-use of intellectual and artistic works by empowering  
authors and audiences. It is sustained by the generous support of the  
Center for the Public Domain, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur  
Foundation, the Omidyar Network, and the Hewlett Foundation. For more  
information, visit http://creativecommons.org.

Contact

Eric Steuer
Creative Director, Creative Commons
eric AT creativecommons.org

Kembrew McLeod
Co-director, Copyright Criminals
kembrew AT kembrew.com

Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit