So at this years South by Southwest and at the AFI in Dallas they showed Rip: A Remix Manifesto- a documentary on Girl Talk as well as other remixers. Essentially what I got from it is that because he is only using at most 5-10 seconds of any one song, and then manipulating into something else that its not copyright infringement- and I agree with that completely. Just had a conversation with Doug about how you cant apply rules like that to something that is just as much based on influence as fashion or art which have little to no copyright law.
If I am a designer and I am inspired by a neckline on a Gucci dress and combine that with other ideas- (or Girl Talk likes the drum beat from an Elvis Costello song, chops it up and reworks it) than that is just seen as creativity and not theft.
Its really just a matter of record companies trying to take take take for themselves- they really do not have the artists interests in mind.
The movie never mentions fashion as having similar issues but I think it's worth mentioning, because its totally same same. (On a completely separate note, in Thailand they repeat words at the end of sentences a lot- like if you ask how much is this and how much is that they say "Oh same same" "Good good" and my favorite "same same but different" so there ya go- insight into my weird way of talking.)
The makers of the film pulled a Radiohead (which have a great role in the film)and you can download it from their website for whatever price you wanna pay!
Just go to ripremix.com
:)