A remix, sometimes referred to as a reorchestration or rework, is essentially a piece of media that has been subjected to alteration or manipulation from its original form. This transformation is achieved through the addition, removal, or modification of its constituent elements. The concept of a remix is not confined to a single medium; it can be applied to songs, works of art, literature, poetry, or even photographs. The fundamental characteristic that defines a remix is its appropriation and subsequent alteration of existing materials to forge something entirely new.
While the term is most frequently encountered in the realm of audio mixing within music and song recordings, its application extends far beyond. Songs might be remixed for a multitude of pragmatic or artistic reasons. These can include adapting a track for radio play or the pulsating environment of a nightclub, or creating a stereo or surround sound rendition of a song where only a mono version previously existed. The degradation of original master recordings over time, or the unfortunate loss of these masters altogether, often necessitates remixes to improve the fidelity of older songs. Furthermore, a remix can serve to alter a song to better align with a specific music genre or to fit a particular radio format.
The strategic use of original song materials in a new context is another common driver for remixes, offering the original work an opportunity to reach a different demographic. Artistic exploration is, of course, a significant factor; some artists remix their own or others' work purely for the sake of creative expression. Remixes can also serve a commercial purpose, providing additional versions of a song to be included as bonus tracks on an album or as a B-side on a single, particularly in eras where CD singles could accommodate multiple tracks. A particularly effective use of remixing involves forging a connection between a less established artist and a more successful one. A classic example of this is Fatboy Slim's transformative remix of "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop, which significantly amplified the latter's reach. Beyond these, remixes are also employed to refine the initial mix of a song, often with the goal of achieving a more professional final product, or simply to elevate a song from its original state to something arguably superior.
It is crucial to distinguish remixes from edits. Edits typically involve the shortening of a final stereo master for promotional or broadcast purposes, a more superficial alteration than a remix. Equally important is the distinction between a remix and a cover. While a remix reconfigures existing audio components from a recording to create an altered version of a song, a cover is a complete re-recording of another artist's song.
Though audio mixing stands as the most prevalent and recognizable form of remixing, the practice is by no means exclusive to music. Literature, film, technology, and even social systems can be viewed through the lens of remixing, demonstrating the pervasive nature of this creative process.[1]
Origins
The very genesis of recorded sound in the late 19th century laid the groundwork for technology to enable the rearrangement of the conventional listening experience. The advent of easily manipulated magnetic tape in the 1940s and 1950s, followed by the development of multitrack recording, made such alterations increasingly feasible. During these decades, the experimental genre known as musique concrète actively employed tape manipulation to construct sound compositions. Less artistically ambitious, but still relevant, were the edits that produced medleys or various forms of novelty recordings.
The more modern iteration of remixing traces its lineage back to the vibrant dance-hall culture of Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The fluid musical landscape, which encompassed ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dub, was enthusiastically embraced by local music mixers. These individuals deconstructed and rebuilt tracks to precisely cater to the evolving tastes of their audiences. Pioneers such as Ruddy Redwood, King Tubby, and Lee "Scratch" Perry were instrumental in popularizing stripped-down instrumental mixes, which they termed "versions," of reggae tunes. Initially, this involved merely dropping the vocal tracks, but the practice soon evolved to incorporate more sophisticated techniques. Mixers began to selectively drop individual instrumental tracks in and out of the mix, isolate and repeatedly feature hooks, and introduce a variety of effects like echo, reverberation, and delay. The German krautrock band Neu! also explored sonic manipulation on side two of their album Neu! 2, utilizing playback at different turntable speeds and employing tape recorder distortion on their earlier single Super/Neuschnee.
From the mid-1970s onwards, DJs in nascent discothèques began employing similar techniques with disco songs. Through the use of loops and tape edits, they skillfully manipulated tracks to ignite and sustain the energy on the dance floor. A particularly significant figure in this evolution was Tom Moulton, widely credited with inventing the dance remix as we understand it today. While not a DJ himself, a common misconception, Moulton began his career by crafting a homemade mix tape for a dance club on Fire Island in the late 1960s. His tapes gained considerable popularity, eventually catching the attention of the New York City music industry. Initially, Moulton was engaged simply to enhance the sonic qualities of dance-oriented recordings prior to their release – a process he described as "I didn't do the remix, I did the mix." Over time, he transitioned from being a "fix it" specialist for pop records to focusing exclusively on remixes tailored for the dance floor. In this capacity, he is credited with inventing the breakdown section and pioneering the 12-inch single vinyl format. Walter Gibbons is credited with providing the dance version of the very first commercial 12-inch single, "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure. It's important to note, contrary to popular belief, that Gibbons did not actually mix the record; his contribution was a re-edit of the original mix. Moulton, Gibbons, and their contemporaries such as Jim Burgess, Tee Scott, and later Larry Levan and Shep Pettibone at Salsoul Records, collectively formed a highly influential group of remixers during the disco era. The Salsoul catalog is often regarded, particularly in the UK and Europe, as the definitive "canon" of the disco mixer's art. Pettibone stands out as one of the rare remixers whose work successfully navigated the transition from the disco era into the burgeoning House music scene, achieving considerable recognition. His peers in this transition included figures like Arthur Baker and François Kevorkian.
Concurrently with the disco scene in the mid-1970s, the distinct remix cultures of dub and disco converged through the migration of Jamaican immigrants to the Bronx. This fusion proved to be a potent catalyst, energizing both traditions and significantly contributing to the birth of hip-hop music. Pivotal figures in this development included DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Techniques such as cutting (the rapid alternation between duplicate copies of the same record) and scratching (the manual manipulation of the vinyl record beneath the turntable needle) became integral to the emerging culture, resulting in what Slate magazine aptly described as "real-time, live-action collage." One of the earliest mainstream successes showcasing this remix style was Herbie Hancock's 1983 track Rockit, remixed by Grand Mixer D.ST. Malcolm McLaren, in collaboration with the creative team at ZTT Records, incorporated the "cut up" style of hip-hop into influential records such as "Duck Rock". The 1987 remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full" by the English duo Coldcut is widely regarded as having "laid the groundwork for hip hop's entry into the UK mainstream".[2] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian hailed it as a "benchmark remix" and included it in his top ten list of such works.[3] The Coldcut remix, titled "Seven Minutes of Madness," achieved considerable commercial success, reaching the top fifteen in countries including Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.[4][5][6][7]
History
The early days of pop music remixes were relatively straightforward. In the 1980s, "extended mixes" of songs were commonly released to clubs and commercial outlets via vinyl 12-inch singles. These typically ran for six to seven minutes and often consisted of the original song with an additional 8 or 16 bars of instrumental passages, frequently inserted after the second chorus. Some were as simple as stitching two copies of the song end-to-end. As the cost and accessibility of new technologies improved, many bands that were actively involved in their own production, such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Depeche Mode, New Order, Erasure, and Duran Duran, began to experiment with more intricate variations of the extended mix. Madonna, whose career began by crafting music for dance clubs, strategically utilized remixes to propel her trajectory. Her early relationship with noted DJ John "Jellybean" Benitez led to his creation of several remixes of her work.
The group Art of Noise pushed the boundaries of remix styles to an extreme, constructing music almost entirely from samples. They were among the vanguard of popular groups to fully exploit the potential unleashed by the synthesizer-driven compositions of electronic musicians like Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Giorgio Moroder, and Jean-Michel Jarre. Contemporaneous with Art of Noise, the seminal body of work by [Yello], meticulously composed, arranged, and mixed by Boris Blank, also explored similar sonic territories. Primarily due to their reliance on sampled and synthesized sounds, Yello and Art of Noise would go on to produce a substantial amount of influential material that shaped the next phase of electronic music. Other artists, including Cabaret Voltaire and the aforementioned Jarre (whose album Zoolook was a remarkable demonstration of sampling and sequencing artistry), were equally influential during this period.
Following the rise of dance music in the late 1980s, a new form of remix gained popularity. This approach typically involved retaining the original vocals while replacing the instrumental backing, often with arrangements fitting the house music idiom. Jesse Saunders, recognized as The Originator of House Music, revolutionized remixing by creating entirely new original music for his remixes, then reintroducing the artist's original lyrics. He first employed this technique with the Club Nouveau song "It's a Cold, Cold World" in May 1988. Another salient example of this methodology is Roberta Flack's 1989 ballad "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)." Chicago House luminary Steve "Silk" Hurley dramatically transformed it into an energetic floor-filler by stripping away all the original instrumental tracks and substituting a minimalist, sequenced "track" to support her vocal performance. This remix, intended for the UK release, ultimately reached No. 1 on the pop charts, remixed by Simon Harris. The art of the remix continued its gradual evolution, leading to more avant-garde artists like Aphex Twin creating highly experimental remixes. These works often diverged radically from the original sound, driven not by pragmatic considerations like sales or "danceability," but by a pursuit of "art's sake."
The 1990s witnessed the proliferation of the mashup with the advent of powerful home computers capable of audio manipulation. These were unsolicited, unofficial, and often legally questionable remixes created by "underground remixers" who blended two or more recordings, frequently from disparate sources. Girl Talk stands as perhaps the most prominent figure associated with this movement, crafting albums composed entirely of sounds derived from other music, which he then ingeniously integrated into his own creations. Underground mixing presents greater challenges than typical official remixes due to the general unavailability of clean, isolated tracks, such as vocals or individual instruments, to the public. Some artists, including Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and Public Enemy, embraced this trend, openly sanctioning fan remixes of their work. For a period, a website existed that hosted hundreds of unofficial Björk remixes, all constructed using officially sanctioned mixes. Other artists, such as Erasure, took a different approach by including remix software with their officially released singles, enabling nearly infinite permutations of remixes by users. The band also organized remix competitions for their releases, selecting fan-created remixes to be featured on subsequent official releases.
Remixing has become particularly prevalent within the spheres of heavily synthesized electronic and experimental music. Many creators of cutting-edge music in genres like synthpop and aggrotech are solo artists or duos who often enlist remixers to compensate for skills or equipment they may lack. Artists such as Delobbo from Chicago, LehtMoJoe based in Dallas, and the Russian DJ Ram, who has collaborated with t.A.T.u., are highly sought after for their remixing prowess and have impressive résumés of contributions. It is not uncommon for industrial bands to release albums where half the tracks are remixes. Indeed, some singles have been expanded into full albums comprising remixes by other well-known artists.
Certain industrial groups actively encourage their fans to remix their music, most notably Nine Inch Nails, whose website provides a selection of downloadable songs intended for remixing using software like Apple's GarageBand. Some artists have begun releasing their music in the U-MYX format, which allows purchasers to create and share their own mixes on the U-MYX website.
In popular music
According to Guinness World Records, Madonna holds the distinction of being the most remixed artist.[8] Her remix album You Can Dance is credited with playing a significant role in popularizing the concept of remix albums.[9]
The increasing accessibility of technology has facilitated the remixing process, leading to its widespread adoption in the music industry.[10] While legal avenues for remixing exist, numerous disputes have arisen concerning the rights to samples used in remixed songs. Many prominent artists have found themselves embroiled in remix-related legal battles. A notable case occurred in 2015 when Jay-Z faced a trial over his use of a sample from Baligh Hamdy's composition "Khosara Khosara" in his song "Big Pimpin'". Osama Fahmy, Hamdy's nephew, argued that while Jay-Z possessed the "economic rights" to use the song, he had not obtained the "moral rights."[11]
In 1988, Sinéad O'Connor's art-rock song "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" was remixed to highlight its urban appeal, a stark contrast to the original's tight, grinding bassline and rhythm guitar reminiscent of Chic's work. In 1989, the Cure's "Pictures of You" underwent a remix that "turned the music on its head, twisted the beat completely, but at the same time left the essential heart of the song intact."[12]
Remixes have become a standard element in contemporary dance music, allowing a single song to resonate across diverse musical genres and dance venues. These remixes frequently feature "guest" artists, adding new vocalists or musicians to the original mix. The remix is also extensively utilized in hip-hop. An R&B remix typically retains the original song's music but incorporates additional or altered verses delivered by featured artists, often including some or all of the original verses, albeit potentially rearranged.
Mariah Carey significantly contributed to popularizing the inclusion of rappers as featured acts with her post-1995 songs, notably her remix of "Fantasy" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard.
In the early 1990s, Mariah Carey emerged as one of the first mainstream artists to re-record vocals specifically for dancefloor versions. By 1993, most of her major dance and urban-targeted renditions featured re-sung vocals, as exemplified by "Dreamlover". Some artists would provide new or additional vocals for different versions of their songs. These were not strictly remixes, as they involved entirely new productions of the material—essentially "re-cutting" the songs, often from the ground up. Carey collaborated with record producer Sean Combs to create the official Bad Boy remix of "Fantasy."[13] This Bad Boy remix featured background vocals by Puff Daddy and rapping by Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter's inclusion initially raised concerns at Columbia, who feared the drastic stylistic shift might negatively impact sales.[14] Certain R&B elements were excised from the remix, while the bassline and the "Genius of Love" sample were emphasized, with the bridge from the original version repurposed as the chorus.[13] A version omitting Ol' Dirty Bastard's verses also exists.[13] The "Bad Boy Fantasy Remix" ingeniously combines the chorus from the original version with that of the Bad Boy Remix, excluding Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals from his second verse.[13] Carey also re-recorded vocals for club remixes of the song by David Morales, which were titled "Daydream Interlude (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)."[15]
The Bad Boy remix garnered considerable praise from music critics. "Fantasy" was lauded as an example of how a music sample could be transformed "into a fully realized pop masterpiece."[16] The song and its remix are arguably among Carey's most significant singles to date. Due to its commercial success, Carey played a pivotal role in popularizing the inclusion of rappers as featured artists in subsequent songs.[17] Sasha Frere-Jones, an editor at The New Yorker, remarked in reference to the song's remix that it "became standard for R&B/hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé to combine melodies with rapped verses. And young white pop stars—including Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and Christina Aguilera—have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R&B."[17] Frere-Jones further concluded that "Her idea of pairing a female songbird with the leading male MCs of hip-hop changed R&B and, eventually, all of pop. Although now anyone is free to use this idea, the success of 'Mimi' [referring to The Emancipation of Mimi, her tenth studio album, released nearly a decade after "Fantasy"] suggests that it still belongs to Carey."[17] John Norris of MTV News stated that the remix was "responsible for, I would argue, an entire wave of music that we've seen since and that is the R&B-hip-hop collaboration. You could argue that the 'Fantasy' remix was the single most important recording that she's ever made." Norris echoed the sentiments of TLC's Lisa Lopes, who told MTV that it is because of Mariah that we have "hip-pop."[18] Judnick Mayard, a writer for The Fader, asserted that regarding R&B and hip hop collaboration, "The champion of this movement is Mariah Carey."[19] Mayard also expressed that "To this day ODB and Mariah may still be the best and most random hip hop collaboration of all time," citing that due to the record "Fantasy," "R&B and Hip Hop were the best of step siblings."[19] In the 1998 film Rush Hour, Soo Yong is heard singing the song as it plays on the car radio, shortly before her kidnapping. In 2011, the experimental metal band Iwrestledabearonce incorporated the song at the beginning and end of their video "You Know That Ain't Them Dogs' Real Voices."
Indie artist Grimes has cited "Fantasy" as one of her all-time favorite songs and has attributed her own musical direction to Mariah Carey's influence.[20]
Jessica Simpson's "Irresistible" (So So Def Remix), featuring Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri, made a significant impact in 2001.
M.C. Lyte was invited to contribute a "guest rap," marking the inception of a new tradition in pop music. In 1987, George Michael presented three artistically distinct arrangements of "I Want Your Sex," underscoring the potential for "serial productions" of a single piece to penetrate diverse markets and broaden listener tastes. Following the success of "California Love," which became his best-selling single, Tupac Shakur collaborated with Dr. Dre again for its remix. Dre had initially intended the track for his own subsequent album but agreed to its inclusion on Shakur's album All Eyez on Me. This remix also featured the return of Roger Troutman, who had appeared on the original, concluding the remix with an ad-lib on the outro. Mariah Carey's song "Heartbreaker" was remixed, incorporating lyrical interpolations and an instrumental sample from "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)" by Snoop Dogg.[21] A separate music video was produced for this remix, filmed in black and white and featuring a cameo appearance by Snoop. In 2001, Jessica Simpson released an urban remix of her song "Irresistible,"[22] featuring rappers Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri, who also produced the track.[23] This remix samples Kool & the Gang's 1973 song "Jungle Boogie" and "Why You Treat Me So Bad" by Club Nouveau (1987).[24]
The primary single release of "I Turn to You" by Melanie C was presented as the "Hex Hector Radio Mix." This rendition earned Hex Hector the 2001 Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year.
Released on July 12, 1999, the remix of "Always You" by Jennifer Paige achieved significant success, reaching number six on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart.[25]
Another notable example is R. Kelly, who recorded two distinct versions of "Ignition" for his 2003 album Chocolate Factory. The song is unique in its seamless transition from the conclusion of the original version to the commencement of the remixed version, introduced by the spoken line, "Now usually I don't do this, but uh, go ahead on, break 'em off with a little preview of the remix." Furthermore, the opening line of the original version, "You remind me of something/I just can't think of what it is," is sampled from an earlier Kelly song, "You Remind Me of Something." Kelly later revealed that he had actually written "Ignition (remix)" prior to the so-called original version of "Ignition," and subsequently created the purported original to provide context for the chorus lyric in his alleged remix.[27] Madonna's album I'm Breathless featured a remix of "Now I'm Following You" that served as a segue between the original track and "Vogue," allowing for the latter's inclusion in a setlist without disrupting the listener's flow.
In 2015, EDM artist Deadmau5, who had been associated with Jay-Z's Roc Nation, initiated legal action against his former manager over alleged unauthorized remixing of his songs. Deadmau5 contended that while he had granted permission for certain remixes, others had been made without his consent. He sought reimbursement for remixes produced after their professional relationship had ended, asserting his "moral right" to refuse future remixing opportunities. The dispute was resolved in 2016 with an agreement that prohibited Play Records from creating any new remixes.[28][29]
50 Cent attempted to sue rapper Rick Ross in October 2018 for remixing the beat of his song "In da Club," citing their public feud. However, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that 50 Cent did not hold the copyright for the beat, which belonged to Shady/Aftermath Records.[30]
Many hip-hop remixes emerged either from the necessity for a pop/R&B singer to imbue a slower song with a more urban, rap-infused edge, or from a rapper's aspiration to achieve broader pop appeal through collaboration with an R&B singer. Remixes possess the power to amplify the popularity of the original versions of songs.
Through a combination of guest raps, re-sung or altered lyrics, and alternative backing tracks, some hip-hop remixes evolve into compositions that bear little resemblance to their originals. A prime example is the remix of "[Ain't It Funny]"(/Ain%27t_It_Funny) by Jennifer Lopez, which shares minimal elements with the original recording beyond its title.
Slow ballads and R&B songs can be reinterpreted by techno producers and DJs to make them appealing to the club scene and urban radio audiences. Conversely, a more upbeat track can be softened to give it a "quiet storm" sensibility. Frankie Knuckles successfully catered to both markets with his Def Classic Mixes, often slightly reducing the tempo while removing ornamental elements to soften the "attack" of a dancefloor filler. These remixes proved immensely influential; notably, Lisa Stansfield's classic single "Change" was frequently played by urban radio in the Knuckles version, which had been provided as an alternative to the original mix by Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, the record's producers.
In the era of social media, the creation and uploading of remixes have become accessible to virtually anyone, with platforms like Instagram and YouTube being particularly popular for this purpose.
Broader context
The concept of a remix can also extend beyond audio media, referring to a non-linear reinterpretation of various works or media. This can involve a hybridizing process that combines fragments from multiple sources. The act of merging and re-contextualizing often yields unique results that may diverge significantly from the original creator's intentions or vision. Consequently, the notion of a remix can be applied to visual arts, film, and even more abstract domains. Mark Z. Danielewski's fragmented novel House of Leaves, for instance, has been compared by some critics to the remix concept.
In literature
A literary remix involves creating an alternative version of an existing text. William Burroughs employed the cut-up technique, developed by Brion Gysin, to remix language in the 1960s.[31] This involved literally cutting various textual sources (including his own writings) into pieces with scissors, rearranging them on a page, and pasting them together to form new sentences, ideas, narratives, and modes of thought.
The Soft Machine (1961) stands as a notable early novel by Burroughs that utilized the cut-up technique. Literary and linguistic remixing is also evident in Jeff Noon's Pixel Juice (2000), where Noon later elaborated on employing different methods for this process in Cobralingus (2001).
In art
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A remix in art frequently manifests as multiple perspectives on a single theme. An artist selects an original artwork and imbues it with their unique interpretation, resulting in a creation that, while distinct, retains echoes of the original. It is, in essence, a reworked abstraction that still holds remnants of the source material, allowing the original piece's underlying meanings to resonate. Celebrated examples include Andy Warhol's The Marilyn Diptych, which modifies the colors and styles of an iconic image, and Pablo Picasso's The Weeping Woman, which merges various angles of perspective into a single viewpoint. Picasso's other renowned paintings also frequently incorporated elements from his personal life, such as his romantic relationships. For instance, his painting Les Trois Danseuses, or The Three Dancers, is understood to depict a love triangle.
Other forms of artistic remix include parodies. In contemporary usage, a parody is a work created to mock, comment on, or satirize an original work, its subject matter, author, style, or another target, through humorous, satirical, or ironic imitation. Parodies are prevalent across art and culture, from literature to animation. Well-known parody artists include "Weird Al" Yankovic and Allan Sherman. Numerous current television shows are replete with parodies, such as South Park, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.
The internet has significantly facilitated the remixing of art, as demonstrated by platforms like memegenerator.net (which provides pictorial templates for users to add their own text) and Dan Walsh's Garfieldminusgarfield.net[32] (which humorously removes the titular character from original Garfield comic strips by creator Jim Davis).
A feminist remix constitutes a creative act of resistance and cultural production that challenges patriarchal hierarchies by reworking systems that privilege men.[33] Examples include Barbara Kruger's works You are not yourself (1982), We are not what we seem (1988), and Your body is a battleground (1989); Orlan's Self-Hybridizations (1994); Evelin Stermitz's remix Women at War (2010); and Sian Amoy's 2008 work Distaff [Ain't I Redux].
In media and consumer products
In recent years, the concept of the remix has been analogously applied to other media and products. In 2001, the British Channel 4 television program Jaaaaam was produced as a remix of sketches from the comedy show Jam. In 2003, The Coca-Cola Company released a new iteration of their soft drink Sprite featuring tropical flavors, marketed under the name Sprite Remix.
In 1995, Sega released Virtua Fighter Remix (バーチャファイター リミックス/Bāchafaitā rimikkusu), an updated version released mere months after the initial Virtua Fighter on the Sega Saturn.
The original Virtua Fighter release on the Saturn was considered somewhat lackluster. Sega had aimed for an accurate port of the Sega Model 1 arcade version, consequently utilizing untextured models and the arcade machine's soundtrack. However, the Saturn's hardware limitations meant it could render fewer polygons on screen compared to the Model 1, resulting in characters appearing noticeably less polished. Some critics even deemed it inferior to the Sega 32X version, exacerbated by the added CD loading times.
Virtua Fighter Remix was developed to address many of these shortcomings. The character models featured a slightly higher polygon count (though still less than the Model 1 original) and were texture-mapped, contributing to a more modern visual aesthetic that could effectively compete with contemporary PlayStation titles. The game also offered players the option to utilize the original flat-shaded models.
In Western markets, a CG Portrait Collection Disc was included as part of the Saturn bundle. North American owners received Virtua Fighter Remix as a complimentary item upon registering their Saturn consoles, while Japanese customers would later receive a SegaNet-compatible version. Sega also brought Virtua Fighter Remix to their Sega Titan Video arcade hardware.[34]
Copyright implications
The practice of remixing, which often involves borrowing extensively from existing musical works (sometimes multiple sources), raises significant issues concerning intellectual property. A primary question revolves around whether a remixer is legally permitted to redistribute their work, or if such a remix constitutes a [derivative work] (/Derivative_work) under copyright law, such as that of the United States. The legality of visual works like collage, which can be fraught with licensing complexities, also remains an open question.
Two clear extremes define the spectrum of derivative works. If a remixed song is substantively dissimilar in form—for instance, if it only borrows a motif that is then significantly modified, while all other aspects are entirely different—it may not necessarily be classified as a derivative work, depending on the extent of melodic and chordal progression alterations. Conversely, if a remixer makes only minor changes, such as altering the instrumentation and tempo, it is unequivocally a derivative work and subject to the copyrights held by the original work's owner.
The Creative Commons organization, a non-profit entity, facilitates the sharing and utilization of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools, with an explicit mission to foster a remix culture.[35] They provide a platform enabling artists to share their work with users, granting them the liberty to share, use, or build upon their creations under a Creative Commons license. Artists can impose specific restrictions on copyright usage, limiting it to particular users or purposes while still protecting both the creators and the users.[36]
The exclusive rights held by copyright owners over acts such as reproduction, communication, adaptation, and performance—unless explicitly licensed openly—inherently restrict the ability to negotiate the use of copyrighted material without prior permission.[37]
Remixes are inevitably bound to encounter legal challenges when the entirety or a substantial portion of the original material has been reproduced, copied, communicated, adapted, or performed. This is unless permission has been granted in advance through an open content license, such as a Creative Commons license, or if the use falls under [fair dealing] (/Fair_use) provisions (the scope of which is exceptionally narrow), a statutory license exists, or explicit permission has been secured from the copyright owner. Generally, courts evaluate what constitutes a "substantial part" based on its quality rather than its quantity, and its significance in relation to the overall work.[38]
There are ongoing theoretical discussions regarding reforms to copyright law concerning remixes. Nicolas Suzor proposes that copyright law should be amended to permit certain reuses of copyrighted material without the owner's permission, particularly when such derivatives are highly transformative and do not adversely affect the primary market for the original work. A strong argument can certainly be made that non-commercial derivatives, which do not compete with the market for the original material, should receive some form of legal protection against copyright infringement claims.[39]
Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig posits that, for the first time in history, creativity is by default subject to regulation due to two key architectural features: first, the ease with which digital cultural objects can be copied, and second, the default copyright law requiring owner permission. This results in the necessity of obtaining owner permission for activities like creating mashups or remixes. Lessig believes the key to facilitating mashups and remixes lies in "education – not about framing or law – but rather what you can do with technology, and then the law will catch up."[40]
He suggests that trade associations—akin to mashup guilds—that document practices and publish reports to establish norms or reasonable behaviors within a community would be beneficial in defining fair use parameters. Lessig also contends that Creative Commons and other licenses, such as the GNU General Public Licence, are crucial tools for mashup and remix artists to navigate the complexities of copyright law.[35] Lessig expounded upon these ideas in his book Remix, which is itself available for remixing under a CC BY-NC license.[41][42]
The fair use doctrine permits the use of copyrighted materials without requiring explicit permission from the original creator (as outlined in section 107 of US federal copyright law). This doctrine establishes limitations on the borrowing of copyrighted material. Whether borrowed material falls under fair use is determined by factors such as the amount of original content used, the nature of the content, the purpose of the borrowed content, and the impact the borrowed content has on an audience. There are no definitive lines separating copyright infringement from adherence to fair use regulations when producing a remix.[43] However, if the work distributed by the remixer is a wholly new and transformative creation intended for non-profit purposes, copyright laws are generally not breached. The operative word in such considerations is "transformative," implying that the remix product must have been either sufficiently altered or demonstrably used for a substantially different purpose to be considered safe from copyright violation.
In 2012, Canada's Copyright Modernization Act introduced a new explicit exemption for non-commercial remixing.[44] In 2013, the US court ruling in Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. acknowledged that amateur remixing might qualify under fair use, and copyright holders are now advised to review and respect fair use principles before issuing DMCA take down notices.[45]
In June 2015, a WIPO article titled "Remix Culture and Amateur Creativity: A Copyright Dilemma"[45] recognized the ascendancy of the "age of remixing" and underscored the necessity for copyright reform.