Hello all, the Copyright Criminals contest final deadline has been extended two weeks until March 14. Also, George Clinton and Chuck D ok’d the usage of their samples. so they are now fair game!

Happy Remixing!

Here is the press release:

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.