Deconstructing Beck

Deconstructing Beck[22], although not a net.art piece brings into play issues that are in play regarding encoding and distribution techniques that are currently controversial in net culture. An ŪTMark-sponsored work, Deconstructing Beck challenged the practices of artists like Nine Inch Nails and Beck who have been suspected of illegally sampling the work of other artists in their own compositions. The result was a CD by Illegal Arts of 'songs' by various artists who created music comprised ENTIRELY of samples from Beck's music, which understandably infuriated the legal department at Geffen Records. Such inversions of artistic practice brought into play three key issues. It questioned the role of artists' rights to the receipt of royalties and whether they are subsumed by corporate influence, whether the artists' rights are in play at all in the realm of consumer production, and whether intellectual capital can be completely controlled in the singular culture of mass market culture. In light of technologies like MP3 sound file recording programs and concerns of the MPAA over the DeCC Linux-based DVD de-encrypting software[23], the transmission channels of intellectual capital are likely to become increasingly porous, despite additional layers of encryption technology.