Brian Burton, better known as DJ Danger Mouse, was a virtual unknown in the music world until he remixed The Beatles’ The White Album with the a cappella tracks of Jay-Z’s The Black Album to form his homemade and illegal The Grey Album. Initially, Burton only distributed the CD-R to friends without charge but through word-of-mouth, eBay and peer-to-peer file sharing programs, The Grey Album made Burton a small-time celebrity but a large problem. The Los Angeles-based DJ is now something of controversial figure as he is a chance icon for the underground music community and evil to the corporate music industry.

Burton’s case of copyright infringement is straightforward: he used The Beatles’ material without permission. Potentially, if the album were released Burton would have to pay The Beatles and Jay-Z all of his profits, if not more in royalties. Jay-Z, on the other hand, released all his Black Album a cappella, inviting DJs and producers to remix.

The underlying dilemma with copyright laws in the era of sampling, remixing and computer meddling is highly conflicted. How can a law protect the published rights of artists and yet not undermine creativity of others? In the changing landscape of music and its technology, the current copyright laws are paradoxical. Burton has made one of the most creative and original albums in the past few years and the law Stalinisticly punishes him for an imaginative ear. The Grey Album was bound to happen, if not by Burton, then by another. But the result goes beyond just creativity in the realm of musical experimentation, it has incidentally challenged the music industry in the most abstract way—that like it or not, people want to hear it and are willing to pay as much as $80 on one eBay auction site before it was shut down.

Incidentally, Burton has galvanized a strong base of fans that are willing to fight harder for his creativity than he is for his own. The last Tuesday of February this year was dubbed “Grey Tuesday” to protest the current copyright laws. The web site www.greytuesday.org hosted the protest as over 300 web sites put up links on the page for 24 hours so internet users could download Burton’s album for free. The protest made apparent with the rise of digital music that copyright laws actually work in reverse as well.

Burton’s justification for his remixes doesn’t lie in an explanation but in a listen. It’s very apparent that he has remixed The White Album, yet with Burton’s manipulations it’s no longer The Beatles or The White Album but something only Burton could create. Burton has affirmed on The Grey Album that The Beatles are as timeless as they always were, or perhaps in this manifestation more than they originally were, as there is no gaudy disgrace of The Beatles to be found. The first track, “Public Service Announcement,” accents itself far better with Burton’s remix than it did in its previous form. In the end, it’s as artful as it gets in music right now; it is guitars, raps, turntables and machines in harmony.

If anything, The White Album never needed new life but Jay-Z sure did and it comes as no surprise that he’s happier than ever that a small, unknown DJ reopened the door to the tired end of his career and found listeners he never would have had before. And the listeners reached through “Grey Tuesday” gave a new will and form to punk rock—“stealing” music.

For more info visit: www.djdangermouse.com, www.downhillbattle.org, www.illegal-art.org, www.greytuesday.org.