Date of Award

Fall 2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Director of Thesis

Eric Robinson

Second Reader

Andi Waddell

Abstract

This paper examines copyright restoration as both a legal mechanism and a form of cultural reparations for Black musicians historically excluded from ownership and profit in the American music industry. It traces the evolution of U.S. copyright law from its earliest forms to the Music Modernization Act of 2018, highlighting how shifting statutory frameworks have gradually extended protection and restoration rights to artists who were once denied them. The analysis situates this legal trajectory within a broader history of racialized exploitation in the recording industry, where inequitable contracts and systemic power imbalances functioned as modern forms of artistic sharecropping. Through three case studies—Syl Johnson, Victor Willis, and Bo Diddley—the paper demonstrates how artists and estates have mobilized restoration provisions, termination rights, and probate litigation to reclaim ownership and authorship. Each case reveals both the promise and limitations of copyright law as a reparative tool: while legal reforms have expanded opportunities for restitution, procedural barriers and market structures continue to constrain meaningful access. By framing restoration as an act of both legal and moral recovery, this work argues that copyright can serve not only as an economic safeguard but also as a vehicle for historical redress and recognition.

First Page

1

Last Page

78

Rights

© 2025, James Roberts Jr.

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