# Grey Tuesday: The Grey Album, Sampling, Mixing, and the Law

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-tuesday-the-grey-album-sampling-mixing-and-the-law/230269>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 20, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-tuesday-the-grey-album-sampling-mixing-and-the-law/230269 "2004-02-20T21:24:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-tuesday-the-grey-album-sampling-mixing-and-the-law/230269/81 "2004-03-05T23:36:17Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Quote:  
> The Congress shall have power …to provide for the … general welfare of the United States To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;  
> That is from Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution. The goal of copyright is to “provide for the general welfare” and “promote the progress of science and useful arts” by encouraging further creation. The rationale behind copyright is that granting creators temporary monopoly rights over their creations will encourage them to create more. The real goal of copyright is to ensure that new knowledge and art will be developed and circulated through society. It was not intended to create a syndicate of powerful corporations that can control, via legal mechanchians and strong arm tactics, what art we are allowed to experience.

You ignored the part of the section that completely contradicts what you’re saying. It promotes the science and useful arts by securing the authors and inventors the \*\* EXCLUSIVE \*\* right to their respective writings and discoveries.

Exclusive that means they get to do whatever the hell they want with it. If you want to make an album and let people re-mix it that is fine. If the Beatles do not want their album remixed they have every right to deny people use of it.

I can’t see why there is a debate here this is a very simple concept if you create a piece of art its yours. Other people don’t get to decide if they are going to use it or not you decide.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-tuesday-the-grey-album-sampling-mixing-and-the-law/230269/82 "2004-05-15T01:10:09Z")

</div>

David Bowie was probably so impressed by DJ Danger Mouse’s work on _The Grey Album_, he is sponsoring a contest for DJs to mix instrumentals from old song with songs his latest CD, either using an entire instrumental, or by conventional mixing.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grey-tuesday-the-grey-album-sampling-mixing-and-the-law/230269.md?page=4)