Copyright filter on SoundCloud unable to deal with mash-ups

SoundCloud, the online platform where users can upload their own music and share it with the world, has become very popular. The main reason for this is the user-friendliness of the site and the diversity of available footage. However, dark clouds have emerged in the sky for this music sharing paradise. Although the majority of users share their own work, many users are in fact DJs that have mixed and mashed existing –copyrighted- samples with their own creativity.

As more and more samples of copyright protected music appeared on SoundCloud, major record companies have complained that the company is in fact facilitating copyright infringements. In response to the music industry concerns, SoundCloud has introduced a so-called ‘content identification filter’, earlier this year. This essentially means the record companies gave SoundCloud a list of protected songs and the filter will now scan all uploaded material for these songs, in order to block them.

Although it may very well be that some users have basically copy-pasted the work of others, the majority of blocked content consists of mixed material, the so-called DJ-mash-ups. As the mash-ups contain pieces of copyrighted work, the filter makes these songs unavailable. The DJs now say the filter is crippling their (legitimate) industry. Of course many DJs are actually making a living out of soundmixing, they are selling CDs, concert tickets and have a huge fanbase. Many people argue that the soundmixing of DJs is actually the creation of new creative content, instead of copying. Some ingredients may be extracted from someone else’s copyrighted production, but this is a form of “fair use” of the work.

Now the "problem" with the principle of “fair use”, a legal exemption to copyright in the US, is that it is not mathematical. If you would be allowed to use 10% of a work, a computer could scan this. But that is not how it works. Human judgement is needed to determine whether something is ‘fair’. Contrary to the claims of some, determining copyright infringement in itself is not even an easy call for humans, let alone computers. The end result is that the system defaults to blocking way too frequently, taking down works that are legitimate.

This situation is unfortunate for both SoundCloud and DJ culture. The supporters of filters will simply dismiss DJ culture as if it doesn't matter, or by calling them copycats. The reality is that DJ culture is an art form, and copyright law (and the way the entertainment industry interprets the law) may get in the way of that culture. Understandably, services like SoundCloud, are caught in the middle of all of this: trying to stay on the right side of the law, appeasing the entertainment industry as they need their content and facilitating DJ culture. Future will tell which of these interests will prevail.

Sources: Deutsche Welle Radio, TechDirt, SoundCloud