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Possession vs. Progression: The Relationship Between Copyright Law and Sample-Based Hip-Hop

Abstract

This project explores the complex, and at times, troubled relationship between copyright law and hip-hop. While many factors, both positive and negative, have come to shape hip-hop as we know it today, there is one force that holds immense power over the nature and culture of hip-hop: copyright law. This project aims to address how copyright law comes to grasp hip-hop, and not only question the effectiveness of the law, but explore potential changes to the law that respect the cultural and artistic integrity of hip-hop. Viewing the artistic nature of hip-hop shows how the culture heavily relies on the influence of what came before it, borrowing the ideas, sounds, and styles both new and old. Looking back to the era of the Disk Jockey, to the process of sampling in the present, we can see how hip-hop acts in the context of borrowing, sharing, and influencing. In this regard, we see hip-hop as a continuum; something that builds off of what has come before it demanding that it cannot be viewed in isolation. Copyright law exists not only to protect one's work but to promote the progress of useful and creative arts. The task of balancing these two ideas falls on the shoulders of the courts. Given the nature of hip-hop as a culture in which utilizing the work of others is so prominent, I argue that copyright law, as it pertains to its treatment of hip-hop, should be amended to create an environment where hip-hop can thrive. The notion of fair use provides an interesting context for us to witness how the courts hold the ideas of artistic expression and transformative works in comparison to the notions of ownership and copyrighted works.

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The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging the Racial Gap in the City of Brotherly Love

“ … Catto. Department of History, 2016. ADVISOR: Professor Kenneth Aslakson This thesis seeks to examine African … such as John Hope Franklin, James McPherson, and Kenneth … ”

Abstract

This thesis seeks to examine African American activist Octavius Valentine Catto's social and civic contributions to the African American community in Philadelphia and the nation during the Reconstruction era. Catto's militancy, courage, and devotion to the black cause, as a result of major religious and secular revolutionary ideology, offers an alternative view of the black experience in the North which was overshadowed by the myriad of research on Reconstruction in the South. Octavius Catto is part of a long tradition of black activists who led a wave of antislavery reform rooted in the secular political ideology of the American Revolution, which proposed that slavery was hypocritical and inconsistent with the ideals proclaimed in the foundational traditions of America, the Declaration of Independence. Intense racism and discrimination, due to the sociopolitical framework of the period, provides a focus for Octavius Catto's civil rights activism. How did Octavius Catto challenge the white sociopolitical structure? How did he gain the respect of Philadelphia's white population while combating racist sentiment? Through the examination of Octavius Catto's formal liberal arts education, intense involvement in sociopolitical societies, recruitment efforts for black Union troops during the Civil War, and baseball career, this thesis demonstrates that Octavius Catto was influential in directing the progress of blacks within a white prejudiced nation. Octavius Catto founded the Pythian Baseball Club, the first all black baseball club to participate in and win an interracial challenge, which provided an alternative and novel path of civil and social activism. Evidently, the Pythian Baseball Club used baseball as a vehicle to battle race relations, uplift the status of blacks, and assimilate into the mainstream fabric of American society. This thesis is a qualitative study supported by extensive primary source documents which allow further examination of Octavius Catto's life. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania contains the Leon Gardiner Collection and American Negro Historical Society Collection, which constitutes the bulk of the primary source records researched for this project. These primary sources consist of the Banneker Institute Papers, the Pythian Baseball Club Papers and the Pennsylvania State Equal Rights League Papers. Through the meticulous examination of the language and content in correspondence letters, speeches, weekly periodicals, and social and literary organization law, this thesis outlines the ways in which Octavius Catto and fellow black leaders forged a path to social and civic equality in their respective communities. Despite the availability of primary source material relevant to Octavius Catto's life, secondary sources have provided extensive sociopolitical contextual information integral to the Reconstruction era and primary source material. The Department of History at Villanova University maintains a permanent online exhibit entitled "A Great Thing for our People: The Institute for Colored Youth in the Civil War Era," which seeks to tell the early history of its graduates, including Octavius Catto, and how they helped shape the history of postwar America. This exhibit, along with other secondary sources, constitute the bulk of my secondary sources.

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Cold War and the Olympics: An Athlete's Perspective

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When President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, it was the largest act of political interference in the history of the Olympics. It began in December of 1979 when Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. Carter was having a difficult time getting the hostages back so in response to the invasion of Afghanistan, Carter gave the Soviets one month to withdraw their troops or the United States would boycott their Olympics. Since the Soviets did not respect the demands of the President, Carter stuck to his threat and the United States did not participate in the 1980 Moscow games as well as 65 other nations. Although this was not the President's decision to make, overwhelming support from the public as well as pressure from Congress made the United States Olympic Committee respect the government's actions and officially boycotted the 1980 Olympics. This was an extreme case of Cold War politics.

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Maize from Sacred to Profane

“ … advisors; Kenneth Aslakson and Robert Hislope. I am extremely thankful … ”

Abstract

This thesis is a broad study of how corn has influenced the political, social and economic structure of the Americas from the early inception of the first Native American civilizations to the present day. Divided amongst four chapters that aim to explain how corn's development has changed the power dynamic across North and South America, this thesis depicts how corn has sustained state power and how its development as a commodity has transitioned to empowering corporate interests. The first chapter uses a variety of primary sources such as religious texts and artifacts to illustrate corn's sacred role as the creator of humanity and participation in religious ceremonies. After European contact, the second chapter analyzes the trading properties of the Columbian Exchange and how corn served as a catalyst for colonization, population growth and the expansion of the slave trade. The next chapter analyzes U.S. census data and secondary sources that explain the establishment of the United States and how corn rapidly became a commodity and byproduct for a multitude of American businesses that were supported through policies and initiatives set up by the U.S. government. The last chapter uses records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and arguments presented by a multitude of corn lobbying firms that support the acquisition of land and expansion in large corporate farms. Through subsidies and technological advancements corporations are able to gain the most profit through their ability to refine corn's natural state. Policies were instituted by the U.S. government in order to bolster economic return. Today, corn has transitioned from the most important agricultural product with sacred and nourishing properties that aided in the development of societies to a commodity used by corporations to extend their power in politics. This thesis is about that transition.

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Education and Liberation: A Look at the Early Development and Directions of the Virginia Public School System (1879-1899)

“ … of American Studies, June 2013. Advisor: Professor Kenneth Aslakson Abstract From its founding in 1870 and early … ”

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From its founding in 1870 and early development, Virginia's public school system and its leadership provide a roadmap for many of the factors that have shaped America's social landscape and racial politics. The onset of a rapidly industrializing Southern economy was instrumental in forming the direction for black education following Reconstruction and embodies the ideological debate regarding the purpose of education as it relates to racial uplift. The emergence of leaders like Booker T. Washington had an enormous impact on reshaping attitudes toward blacks and their potential as citizens. Ultimately, the ideological hegemony which victimized blacks served as a mechanism for reestablishing white dominion over blacks as freedmen. This thesis examines a twenty year span between 1879 and 1899 during the early stages of Virginia's public school system. In the first chapter, I look primarily at school reports from 1879 to highlight some of the factors of the schools' development that were detrimental to blacks such as racist ideology, marginalization from school administration, and trends of northern assimilation. In the second chapter, I show how much of the racist ideology has manifested itself through a form of industrial and vocational education that thwarted many of the ideals of liberation and freedom that education was initially intended to foster. Additionally, I use evidence from Booker T. Washington's speeches like his "Atlanta Compromise" and contrast them with criticisms from W.E.B. DuBois' Souls of Black Folk in order to demonstrate the process by which Washington's views conformed nicely to white ideological hegemony.

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The Duality of Freedom: The Colony of Rhode Island's Slave Trade Complex

“ … Science and History, March 2018 ADVISORS: Professors Kenneth Aslakson & Mark Dallas. In the eighteenth century … ”

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In the eighteenth century British colonies there existed a duality of freedom, in which salutary neglect facilitated economic opportunism in the form of the slave trade. This paper examines how the colony of Rhode Island was a microcosm of this freedom duality in the merchant capitalist world. The colony became the epicenter of the slave trade in British North America, while also the home to a fervent abolition movement headed by the Quakers. This thesis contends that broad economic and individual freedoms in the colony created the environment where the slave trade prospered, the exact opposite of freedom. After the introduction and literature review this thesis examines the Rhode Island political economy of the eighteenth century, focusing on the role of slavery, slave trading, and abolition movement. Chapter two utilizes primary sources such as historical records, letters, and laws to explain the development and economics behind the trade. Chapter three uses Quaker records and colonial history to show the development of the abolition movement and the impact of the revolution on the colony. Finally chapter four delves into the Brown family of Providence, showing how as a family they were a microcosm of the colony. Exemplifying both the slave trading side and the abolitionist side, the family was at the apex of Rhode Island's greatest moral crisis.

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United States War Memorials: The Transformation of Design and Significance Influenced by the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial

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This thesis examines the change United States war memorials underwent after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and when the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial was created in 1982. The first memorials analyzed are the Marine Corps Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Gettysburg National Military Park, which were all built prior to the Vietnam memorial. The stark differences of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial are then examined. The Korean War Veteran's Memorial, the National WWII Memorial, and the 9/11 Memorial in New York City conclude the study of memorials built after the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. These separate sets of memorials represent most of the major wars the U.S. fought in its history, or significant events and individuals that are vital to the specific war.

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Slavery in the Constitution: The Ironic Shifts in Tension Over Three Pivotal Clauses

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As scholarship has attempted to demonstrate in recent times, early United States history has unfortunately been stained with slavery. The founding document of the nation, the Constitution, is no exception. The three provisions which affected the institution most directly are the three-fifths, slave trade, and fugitive slave clauses. Of these sections, the latter proved to be by far the most controversial in the long-run. Although the other two received lengthy debates and caused great concern in 1787 during the General Convention and over the next few years as the states discussed ratification, they caused limited levels of strain on the nation throughout their duration. Yet had it not been for their inclusion in the founding document there more than likely would have been no union of the states as there came to be. Whether or not they would have been the only ones, it is certain that South Carolina and Georgia posed the greatest threat of refusing to ratify the Constitution. As for the fugitive slave clause, one can only speculate as to what would have happened had there been debate on the issue, but the bottom line is that there was no discussion on the topic.

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Nevertheless, She Persisted: Title IX and the Fight for Gender Equity in Athletics in the Twentieth Century

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During the first half of the twentieth century, the field of athletics in the United States was dominated by a culture of masculinity. Due to this inherent link with masculinity, American women were kept from participating in sports to protect their feminine nature. As the years passed of continuous oppression, only a small handful of women were able to fight back and make a name for themselves as prominent and successful athletes. To combat the larger issue of gender discrimination in America, a women's movement was launched in the 1960s and 1970s. This movement would in turn spur the creation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX was not originally created to address gender inequalities in athletics, but it is clearly what has been most impacted by the law. Since its creation in 1972, Title IX the law has faced near constant backlash out of the fear it would negatively influence men's sports. Despite this backlash, the law has persisted to create more opportunities for women to become involved in sports. The law has led to a distinct increase in female participation rates at the high school and collegiate level, while also leading to health and social benefits for female athletes. Popularity in women's professional sports have also increased significantly since the law's implementation. Title IX has revolutionized women's athletics in the United States, but its road to doing so has not been easy.

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The Public History of John Adams: How and Why a Fresh Portrayal of the Founding Father Americans Previously Looked Past Has…

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Although Adams has received much less recognition in the form of monuments, namesakes, and in the sheer volume of attention from historians over the span of American history than his Revolutionary colleagues, he has recently begun to gain a lot more attention. In the past twenty years or so, interest in John Adams has risen dramatically among historians and the public.

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A Microcosm of the American Public Education Crisis Surrounding Race and Income

“ … of American Studies, June 2016. ADVISOR: Kenneth Aslakson This thesis studies the effects … Institute, 2004), 13. 9 Ibid, 15. 10James Kenneth Nelsen, “From No Choice … Gazette, January 8, 2014. Nelsen, James Kenneth , "From No Choice to Forced Choice to School … ”

Abstract

This thesis studies the effects that race and socio-economic status have on a student's academic achievement in the American public education system. It compares the experiences of students from Schenectady, New York, a low-income, minority-populated small city, and neighboring Niskayuna, a predominately white, affluent community, by looking at graduation rates, school budgets and resources, teacher salaries, household income, and rates of poverty. Despite the annual budgets and student expenditures being similar amongst the two districts, the rates of poverty and racial disparities are dramatic. Therefore, this research exposes how there are countless variables outside of the school itself that impact a student's academic proficiency. Much of my research has come from census data and local news sources. However, my largest and most effective source were the two districts' superintendents, who I had the honor of interviewing. Both men offered insight into the reasons for the achievement gap seen between their districts, and furthered my claim by explaining how the culture of poverty and subsequently parental involvement largely effects a student's achievement. This thesis begins with a review of the secondary source literature I used to contextualize my claim and is followed by three chapters focusing on the general history of Schenectady County, the history of education in Schenectady, and a direct comparison of the discrepancies between Schenectady and Niskayuna. It is completed with an epilogue that shines light on some of the national programs that have been implemented to reform the American education system.

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Going to the movies The Origins of the American Cultural Experience

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My thesis examines the cultural formation of the social experience of "going to the movies." There is no doubt of a unique quality associated with going to the movies that holds a significant place in America's cultural history. It is quite difficult to imagine life without movies. Their visually stimulating effects successfully captivate our minds and allow for a short period of solace from reality. Furthermore, there is something magical at work in the social tradition of going to the movies where the idea of sitting in a dark auditorium filled with strangers all sharing the same viewing experience. This social tradition began to form at the advent of cinema in the late 1890s and was firmly established in the following twenty years. The interaction between the establishment of a new industry, advancements in aesthetics of the medium, and cultivating urban setting of New York City coalesced to create the fundamental idea people associate with "going to the movies." This paper is organized into three chapters. The first chapter focuses on the burgeoning of the film industry in America as a trade analyzing the developments chronologically. Drawing the conclusion that the industry developed as a result of passing through five stages, being a culmination of developments combining technological advancements as well as economic and legal decisions. Chapter two is dedicated to a case study examining the aesthetics in film through Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903) and D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915). By analyzing each film's aesthetic qualities, one can see a progression in narrative and creative style allowed because of the advancements in technology and industry. Finally, chapter three devotes its entirety to a chronology of how the movies developed as a cultural aspect in New York City from the sole use of primary sources. It was the demanding of multiple kinds of regulations that resulted in a permanent home for the movies. From newspaper and trade paper articles, specifically the New York Times and Moving Picture World, there is a clear indication that New York City can be credited to forming the experience coined as "going to the movies." I end my study in at the end of 1917 with the completion of Rivoli Theater because it solidifies the permanent establishment of a movie-going culture. To conclude the paper, a summary of each element in the factor of the initial years of the film industry is explained connecting them to ratify the importance of how such a cultural phenomenon was born. I am interested in this topic because I have a strong passion for the movies. My grandfather, Sam Horwitz, owned movie theaters in New York City in the 1960s and growing up I always felt a special connection whether through stories or pictures. My grandfather was also an active City Councilman during that time where his role as a politician and exhibitionist in the community worked together, similar to the connection in the early 1900s between the City's Alderman and industry. Because the New York Times was one of the main newspapers in New York during the twentieth century, I chose it as one of my primary sources. I examined over one hundred and forty articles from 1896-1930, to conclude that the formation of "going to the movies" was created in its first twenty years of existence.

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"Botany Bay": The State of Society at Union College during the Early Nineteenth Century

“ … Brennan, Kenneth Aslakson, and Melinda Lawson also offered their … ”

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The history of Union College spans nearly the entire history of the United States. Founded in 1795, the school emerged as one of the nation's premier educational institutions in the early nineteenth century. The changes occurring on the national stage often entered public life on Union's campus, and President Eliphalet Nott and students actively participated in the civil discourse of the period. The most prevalent issues on campus included the authority of government, temperance, and the question of enslavement. Historians often like to find commonality among individuals with regards to their views on the most pressing topics of the time, but these categories - social, economic, and political - often prove too simplistic. Students at Union, who shared very similar backgrounds, often ardently disagreed with each other on solutions to society's problems. Union College provides scholars with a complex microcosm of how individuals perceived the world during the first several decades of the Early Republic. Most northern colleges established before the abolition of the slave trade and enactment of gradual emancipation laws bear a relationship to the peculiar institution, Union College is no exception. Records of the finances for the construction of West College, now known as "Old Stone College," at the end of the eighteenth century, reveal that the architects of the building depended on hired enslaved labor from local elites. A quarter of the first Board of Trustees of Union College owned slaves. Eliphalet Nott, a man the college remembers as ardently anti-slavery, owned at least three slaves, one of whom he kept while president of the college. None of this should be shocking since the post-Revolution North existed as a society with slaves, especially in New York, which pursued gradual emancipation; but it is significant that the college today does not engage in serious research of its institutional connections to enslavement. Cassarino ? 5 Students at Union College during the early nineteenth century debated the most pressing issues facing the nation, including enslavement. From the 1810s till the 1830s, the percentage was of southern students at Union College were higher than most similar institutions. This high ratio led to fierce disputes among the student body regarding the future of enslavement. These discussions occurred in a culture of public discourse, which the literary societies at the college fostered. These groups allowed students to converse in a space free of the supervision of professors or President Eliphalet Nott, who used a paternalistic style of authority to control the lives and moral character of his students. While president of Union College, Nott felt duty bound to ensure the young men under his watchful eye engaged in righteous activities and avoided the temptations of vice. He accomplished this by placing disciplinary control under his sole authority and constantly talking with his students about early nineteenth century reform movements. The emergence of temperance reform at Union College came about through Nott's actions and exemplified a top-down social movement expressed by the scholarship of Paul E. Johnson. However, today the college remembers Nott more for his anti-slavery activity than his work for temperance. When looking at the writings of Nott and students in the 1830s, it becomes clear that students initiated anti-slavery events and Nott often avoided the controversial subject and then supported colonization. In this regard, anti-slavery activism occurred bottom-up at Union College. The writings of students at Union College between 1810 and 1840 reveal that students thought critically about current events, and their actions demonstrate that none of them fit perfectly into the general molds created by historians of the early nineteenth century. This should not come as a surprise because students then, much like today, were growing intellectually and beginning to establish their own moral principles.

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The Codependent Development of Patriotism and Xenophobia in the United States, Particularly in Regard to Arabs and Muslims in…

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The United States has always claimed to be endowed with unique values, such as tolerance and justice, and so throughout its history has sought to convey these values with expressions of patriotism. However, is this patriotism simply symbolic, and further, does it even lead itself to xenophobia and racism. This thesis seeks to answer this question by examining the genesis and development of patriotism throughout the country's history, as well as the way in which its racism and xenophobia have changed. Beginning with a general examination of the usefulness and positivity of patriotism from a scholarly standpoint, the basic points regarding the controversial issue are laid out. The main ideas of this dispute are provided by noted scholars George Kateb and John Kleinig in their works Patriotism and Other Mistakes and The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate, respectively. Next, using research on history of the United States beginning from the Revolution, and ending with the Vietnam Era, an extensive picture of these issues in America develops. This then provides good comparison to the main discussion of this thesis; the change in patriotism and islamophobia following September 11th, and how they are connected. This will mainly revolve around the changing relationship that America had with its Arab and Muslim citizens, as well its changing relationship with the world. (The former is in many ways a result of the latter). In this more recent era, more primary sources are to be used, such as One America in the 21st Century: The President's Initiative on Race, as well as Newspaper articles. The positions of Patriotism and Islamophobia following soon after 2001 will be the peak of the research and discussion, as further than this is arguably too recent to garner useful research. Throughout this thesis, the various issues with patriotism are explored, as well as its possibility for usefulness. What is meant to be shown throughout is that patriotism can and has been used to uphold the positive values of the country, but only when it is iconoclastic and willing to be admitted as false. When patriotism has been used symbolically and nationalistically, it has been the cause of extreme racism and xenophobia, especially in times of crisis such as during World War Two and after September 11th. In fact, patriotism has been a self fulfilling idea, as it seeks to protect itself by weeding out dissent. What this all shows is that patriotism is a hard term to get a clear definition of, but its form in the first decade of the 21st century was very damaging. It must be made to resemble a purer form of loyalty to the ideal rather than the symbol to ever be practical again.

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