Kreatives Remixing

Copyrights vs. freedom of the arts: What does our copyright law allow? In this study, Florian Pötzlberger discusses the options available for privileging creative (musical) art forms like remixes, which are inherently characterised by the use of protected material. He explains the central role of neighbouring rights using the example of Germany’s quintessential court case over music rights surrounding a sample from ‘Metall auf Metall’. At all times, this study interprets national law in accordance with the corresponding European Union law, and the author concludes that if the necessary standards specific to both the arts and European Union law are applied, the provision of § 24 of the UrhG (Germany’s copyright law) already has the potential to privilege creative art forms like remixes de lege lata. However, it seems to be time for a general rethink. Against this background, this study suggests a compensation-based statutory exception for transformative and creative uses in order to create a fair balance between the interests of copyright owners and users.