Electronic music has often avoided the typical copyright arguments and only infrequently draws complaints for its culture of remixes. A new lawsuit from Universal Music may throw a wrench in the gears of the system, even if it begins far away from the center of EDM culture. The label is alleging that VH1's Masters of The Mix show did not properly license any of the music from the label that was used during Season 3 of the show.
What about Seasons 1 and 2 you ask? Good question. According to Universal, producers Je T'Aime Media Group did in fact fill out all of the proper paperwork during earlier incarnations of the show. They either got lazy or complacent for the newest production however, meaning that 93 Universal sound compositions (from Daft Punk, Kanye West and more) plus 115 recordings owned by the company (from performers such as Nirvana and the Black Eyed Peas).
Universal is looking to get $150,000 per copyright infringed upon. If you don't have a calculator handy, that's as much as $31.2 million in fines levied against Je T'Aime (it's interesting to note that only the production company, and not VH1 or holding company Viacom, are named in the lawsuit).
Sure, this lawsuit happens far away from the nightclubs or festival shows of big name EDM DJ's, but the song remains the same: If Universal can bring litigation against television DJ's using its music, it could theoretically do so against performers who host remixes on sites that bring in revenue. Considering that services such as Soundcloud will soon be spreading the wealth to performers featured, it becomes something that the remixers of the world need to keep an eye on.
