To understand the ethical, commercial, aesthetic dimensions of AI in music and copyright law today, we must consider the history of copyright law and popular music in the United States. Music copyright law was established in 1831 when sheet music became protected under federal law. During this time (the antebellum period and the exponential growth of slavery), blackface minstrelsy emerged as the first commercial form of American popular music in both live performance and through sheet music publications. Because blackface minstrelsy was founded upon the exploitation and negation of Black people primarily enslaved in America, they themselves may have either been considered property or had limited recourse to claim property for themselves. Music copyright law and property laws in general have continued to develop out of this context, though this history is often left out of litigation. In this course will revisit the history of copyright law from the inaugural Copyright Act of 1790 through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (1988). In doing so we will interrogate the function and form of music copyright law today, while also considering ethical and economic questions around how the technologies that facilitate (e.g., phonograph recordings and artificial intelligence) and aesthetics that make up popular music are protected (or not) under copyright law (and why). Course open to undergraduate and graduate students.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-ER
To understand the ethical, commercial, aesthetic dimensions of AI in music and copyright law today, we must consider the history of copyright law and popular music in the United States. Music copyright law was established in 1831 when sheet music became protected under federal law. During this time (the antebellum period and the exponential growth of slavery), blackface minstrelsy emerged as the first commercial form of American popular music in both live performance and through sheet music publications. Because blackface minstrelsy was founded upon the exploitation and negation of Black people primarily enslaved in America, they themselves may have either been considered property or had limited recourse to claim property for themselves. Music copyright law and property laws in general have continued to develop out of this context, though this history is often left out of litigation. In this course will revisit the history of copyright law from the inaugural Copyright Act of 1790 through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (1988). In doing so we will interrogate the function and form of music copyright law today, while also considering ethical and economic questions around how the technologies that facilitate (e.g., phonograph recordings and artificial intelligence) and aesthetics that make up popular music are protected (or not) under copyright law (and why). Course open to undergraduate and graduate students.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.