Grey Tuesday: Civil disobedience in response to excessive copyright enforcement

I'm not a huge rap fan by any means, but anyone who likes rap, hip-hop, or electronic music knows that sampling (that is, the use of snippets of other people's music, sound fx, or recordings) is at the core of those art forms. It's like collage, where you use cut-outs from magazines to make up your expression, creating something new out of the old.

Danger Mouse created new art by combining Jay Z's work with some samples from The Beatles' White Album. EMI/Capitol Records has threatened lawsuits and has been trying to ban the existence of this work, called "The Grey Album."

This website is sponsoring a day of protest for 2/24 (today), in which websites will be hosting the music for download.
Later tonight I will add my site to the list.

Have a look -- even if you don't like this sort of music, it's crucial to creativity that people be able to use bits and pieces from other people's work. Imagine not being able to bake a cake because the idea of eggs is owned by one person, and sugar is owned by another. That's what is happening in the movie and music arts.