Dear Rich: I want to know if it is considered sampling when you record sound coming from a synthesizer that is playing electronic note data stored on a memory chip. Technically when you play an NES game (’80s video game system), the music that is playing is not pre-recorded. It is actually played “live” from musical note data on the game cartridge (gameplay triggers a MIDI pattern) in the console into the internal synthesizer.

After last week’s tragedy in Parkland, Florida, I reached out to Maggie Byers and Emilie De Angelis of Moms Demand Action NM to talk about recent developments on the gun control front. Moms Demand Action is a bi-partisan grassroots organization fighting the epidemic of gun violence in the US.

Welcome to the inaugural Coffee + Creatives Job Listings! We are pleased to bring you the latest in gigs, jobs, and funding for creatives around the world. Jobs and funding opportunities included in our listings tend to be flexible and/or remote, though we will include some from our home state of New Mexico.

As long as I’ve been a fan, Martin has said the same thing: “If you choose a path to fall back on, you will.” Martin is balls to the wall.

Dear Rich: I built my business on printing my designs on fabric and making stuff. Now there’s a handy service (VIDA) that makes stuff with your uploaded design and sells it to others. I am just leery of any “catches.” Can you look at the licensing agreement?

For the most part, I’ve had the good fortune of doing work that doesn’t compromise my beliefs. But a few years ago I wasn’t so lucky.

Musicians and the music they create are critical to halting further attacks on net neutrality. When net neutrality protections were at risk of being destroyed in the past, musicians came out in large numbers during a multi-year campaign to save it. And we are needed this time around too.

Trust me, filling a ticketed show is hard work. Getting 30 people out to a gig on a Friday night in a large metropolitan city is like pulling teeth! That’s why bands split bills. If you’re at a place where you can fill the room, you probably could use a booking agent.

Inevitably someone is going to compare your work to someone else’s. And when someone says, “This reminded me of your work” it’s hard to know what they mean.

If your inbox is overflowing with booking requests and media opportunities, and you simply cannot handle the workload on your own, you need a manager.

Far too often in this country we throw things away that would still be wanted by someone else. Everything from perfectly edible food which places like Whole Foods throw away because the bananas are “a little too yellow” to the unwanted pets that get thrown away by fools who get a dog without wanting the responsibility of its care.

I believe that a greatly modified public domain work would be a new work and therefore copyrightable, right? I couldn’t be sued for modifying my own writing, could I? What are my rights in this case?