This article claims that the RIAA's approach to copyright in an era of widespread use of digital technologies is lacking common sense. When our parents were growing up, production of recorded music was exclusive to a relatively small group of people with specialized skills and equipment. New technologies, however, have put the power of production into the hands of pretty much anyone with a computer. Of course the value of the RIAA's product has gone down, supply is way way up and demand is essentially zero because we can just do it ourselves. The actual recording isn't where an artist makes most of their money these days (with the obvious big-name exceptions). Most artist's money comes from promoting their brand and having a live performance that people are going to want to see. Therefore, 'stealing' music (and using it in remixes, mashups etc.) actually helps the artist because their fans are doing their promoting free of charge.
http://www.creativedeconstruction.com/2009/06/creative-culture-and-the-g...

Just starting a collection of readings for fair use:

The first place to go is the U.S. Copyright Office's Fair Use Provision.

Let's be Fair: Intellectual Property and New Media Composition from Daniel Anderson on Vimeo.