Remixers rejoice! Over the weekend news started to trickle down that SoundCloud is on the verge of legalizing remixes on the platform. In a recent interview over at Groove.de, Eric Wahlfoss (a founder of the platform), announced that DJ mixes can now legally live on the platform. SoundCloud had a terrible track record when It came to producers and remixes – leaving behind a wasteland of copyright claims and frustrated producers. Through the development of SoundCloud Go, a number of governing bodies around the world came to the table with SoundCloud to create a solution that allows people to upload their remixes and the originators to get paid.
Eric Wahlfoss’s official quote was, “ During the negotiations for our subscription service as well as an agreement was with collecting societies like GEMA (German society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights) achieved in Germany. This means that DJ mixes can now be legally and problem-free on SoundCloud. So this is a very positive news for DJs.” Sounds like the international bodies have come to terms with the platform and everyone wins.
Previously, if your track was marked or reported as a remix, SoundCloud sent you a nice noticed and gave you a warning. You were directed to this famous page remind you that, “Since your remix is based on another creator’s track, you’ll need permission from the original creator and any other relevant rights holders before you can upload and publish your remix online.” You were require to provide proof of permission to the SoundCloud Copyright team and they would decide whether or not to reinstate your track (and hopefully clean your record). SoundCloud’s approach to remixes was particularly frustrating due to user’s argument of Fair Use. SoundCloud addresses this on their copyright page — stating that this is not only open to interpretation, but primarily applies to just the United States. Since the platform headquarters are in Germany, there are a number of international concerns that had to be addressed — not just US law.
One small step for Djs, one giant leap for EDM kind. Now, if they can turn focus to bumping the quality past 128kbps…