A victim of "copyright infringement"

This is a tragedy. A few days ago I was in auditory bliss. I was listening to a mash-up of selections from the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack and modern rap songs. Hearing artists like Ghostface Killah, Outkast, MF DOOM and Murs skillfully laid over Nobuo Uematsu's compositions was exhilarating. I found myself wishing that the FFVII battle theme actually had the song from M.O.P. over it and set out to write this post as a promotion.

Team Teamwork (AKA Tim Jacques) had posted the mix on a Web site called "Bandcamp" so that fans could donate to his cause and download the mix. Here's the sad part: he took his mixes down after he received a complaint that he was in violation of copyright laws. According to Jacques he made “literally tens of dollars over the last weekend, and, overall, a little under $100.” Clearly he was not seeking a profit.

Had I not been completely broke, I would have gladly donated, and had I not wanted to feel like a freeloader, I would have downloaded it without donating. Now, sadly, that opportunity has passed. Hopefully someone has gotten it on bittorrent, but I digress.

There's no doubt that the Vinyl Fantasy 7 mixes infringed upon copyrights - both of the rappers and Uematsu. I would like to ask, however, has he caused any damage? Does a mix like Vinyl Fantasy 7 prevent, discourage, or dissuade the listener from purchasing the rappers' albums or the original FFVII soundtrack?

No.

If anything, I think it would encourage sales. I'd never heard of M.O.P. before, but hearing the "revised" battle theme has really sparked my interest in the artist and I'm thinking of checking them out. If I were a rap or hip-hop artist, I think I'd be honored that someone skillfully used my creation to create something new and great.

This brings up another point, too. The artist Girl Talk (AKA Greg Gillis), has released four albums since 2002 that are solely mash-ups of hundreds of rap songs. He has yet to be hit with a single copyright infringement suit. Even now, when his 2008 album "Feed the Animals" got a lot of publicity attention (mostly on Myspace), Gillis is walking around scott free.

But you know what? I'm glad that Girl Talk is able to exist. Why should someone be forbidden from borrowing materials and creating something entirely new? My bottom line is, copyright law needs revised. In its current form, it's stifling creativity and artistic expression.