Free Republic

Relatives of Prince have asked President Trump to stop playing “Purple Rain” at campaign rallies, echoing similar requests made previously on behalf of fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees ranging from Aerosmith to Queen.

The Supreme Court let stand on Monday a ruling that a traditional Internet download of sound recording does not constitute a public performance of the recorded musical work under federal copyright law. The justices refused to review a ruling by an appeals court in New York that the download itself of a musical work does not fall within the law's definition of a public performance of that work. The not-for-profit American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) appealed to the Supreme Court. It said the ruling has profound implications for the nation's music industry, costing its members tens of...

IN the last few years, it has seemed that perhaps America's long-buried history of blackface is being allowed to peek out of the closet. Bob Dylan named his most recent studio album "Love and Theft," after Eric Lott's landmark 1993 study of the form; and in his curious 2003 film, "Masked and Anonymous," Dylan even got Ed Harris to "black up" for a scene. Spike Lee also explored the subject in "Bamboozled," and competing biographies of Stepin Fetchit joined "Where Dead Voices Gather," Nick Tosches' meditation on the minstrel superstar Emmett Miller, on bookshelves. "Old Dan Tucker," the opening track...

The magic of the minstrelsTwo things you won't find any mention of in Tolkien's Middle-earth are clowns and actors. Nor will you find any reference to plays, drama, jugglers, acrobats, or theaters, carnivals, fairs, and circuses.What did the people of Middle-earth do for their entertainment? They appear not to have had any great arenas like the Romans, no theatrical houses, nor travelling entertainers, nor any of the trappings of a tradition of drama or comedy.The two great forms of exposition in Middle-earth were story-telling and song. But though everyone seems to like a good story or song, there is little...