Chris Maher, composer and massage artist, articulated his vision of what he termed ‘Marxist music.’ His idea was simple: no musical material could be owned — all music makers should be able to take whatever they want from whomever they want and use it as they see it. ‘Material’ could range from a melody, a sound, a formal principle, to an entire piece…. [He] contended that only in this way could music — rather than an individual’s musical career — grow and develop freely. By invading and destroying the notion of musical ‘property,’ the cope of musical possibilities would be infinitely expanded. An individual’s ‘piece’ would still exist and could still be valued, in any and every sense, but, more importantly, his or her ideas — or, more precisely, any real or imagined musical ideas that could be construed from his or her piece — could be built upon, taken in unexpected directions, used by all.

from “Who listens if You Care” by Evan Ziporyn (1991) in Strunk’s Source Readings in Music History