ABSTRACT

This chapter begins with a brief discussion of Euro-American copyright legislation and how it fails to address a great deal of what can be termed "traditional" music. It goes on to describe the distinctive ideas about music ownership found in a single Amazonian Indian society that make it difficult to apply copyright legislation to their music. It then shows how the popular music industry has repeatedly exploited the creativity of traditional artists, and discusses some of the options being considered to improve the current conflict-ridden situation.