Copying right?

Some people own their music while others buy tracks and songs for their own personal use. Some bands get into fights and kick group members out to prevent them from playing their own songs. In the music industry, it can be confusing to decide who owns what and who can use clips from songs.

Can Girl Talk continue to use clips from other musical artists?
Girl Talk, whose real name is Gregg Gillis, has recently made popular the new genre of music called the mash up. This type of music is upbeat and danceable. It takes clips from other artists' songs and "mashes" them together to create the fun music that has become increasingly popular over the past few years. The only problem is… Gillis takes music from other artists and uses their creativity to fuel his own.

Other DJs have been using mash up for a few years, but the media's problem is that Girl Talk has hit the main stream and artists want to sue. Gillis claims to be working under Fair Copyright Acts and he has not lost any money yet, but iTunes has stopped carrying his album, "Night Ripper." For now, Girl Talk is in the clear. Who wants copyright laws to become so restrictive that they actually impede on an artist's creativity?
Does Michael Jackson really own a portion of the Beatles' songs?

It is true that Michael Jackson took his pal Paul McCartney's advice and in 1985 began buying publishing rights to music. MJ spent $47.5 million on the rights of somewhere between 159 and 251 Beatles songs. When Paul decided to print they lyrics to "Eleanor Rigby" and other popular songs his band had created and preformed, he was shocked to realize that he had to pay Michael Jackson royalties. Michael also received royalties from these songs whenever a song he ‘owns' by the Beatles was played on anything from a radio to a jukebox. Perhaps this is when the Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney decided to end their friendship.

What ever happened to Creedence Clearwater Revival?
The two founding members, brothers John and Tom Fogerty were unhappy working together and after 11 top twenty hits in only four years, Tom left the band. Shortly after Tom left the rest of the crew disbanded. John Fogerty wrote and sang most of the hits, including, "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising" and "Down on the Corner" and claimed he should control all of the music and who plays it. The record company sided with the rest of the band members and allowed them to continue to play as Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Today the old band members still want nothing to do with each other. Tom Fogerty died of AIDS in 1990 without reconciling with his brother, John.