(Taylor’s Version): What her Fight with Big Machine Records Means for the Intellectual Property of Creatives
Presentation Type
Textual Analysis
Release Option
Open Access
Description
My research presentation examines Taylor Swift's struggle over ownership of her back catalogue through Big Machine after her music masters were sold and the fallout affect that Swift’s re-recording project has for the intellectual property rights of creatives. She embarked on her reclamation journey about a year following the sale of her masters to Scooter Braun. As of October 2023, Swift has successfully re-released over half of her first six albums. The impact of these (Taylor’s Version)s have been set in stone, and record labels have started to react in opposition of her reclamation. New contracts handed to fledging artists have extended the length of time one must wait to re-record music up to thirty years post-original release. From my presentation, audience members learn about the lack of legal protections for the common agreement that an artist should own their masters. It is up to the artist and their representatives to either fight to own the whole of their work or to turn to other means of distribution through social media.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Joanna Schreiber
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Other
Symposium Year
2024
(Taylor’s Version): What her Fight with Big Machine Records Means for the Intellectual Property of Creatives
