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#699599 - 02/08/10 04:42 PM
When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
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Brett_Meisner
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Registered: 05/12/03
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Like is there a formula as for how many notes in a meledy can be similar, etc, before you need to pay the other guy? Recent Men at Work case; George Harrison case; and so on...
Reason I ask: I heard a song on the radio today and it was the Dolly Parton song "Here You Come Again" -- only it wasn't, the song just started out sounding that way - it turned out to be some dude singing, 103.5 fm -- don't remember band name, but it was a "new" song.
Can anyone help me?
Brett
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#699642 - 02/08/10 06:14 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: Brett_Meisner]
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nycbiscuit
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Registered: 09/24/02
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Short answer: no, there's no formula.
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#699648 - 02/08/10 06:33 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: nycbiscuit]
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jimi lalumia
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case in point(here they come again )
..."Brave New World" by Toyah,produced by Steve Lilywhite in 1982,with the same identifying intro used by U2 on "Bullet The Blue Sky",with the same Steve Lilywhite on board, in 1987...
or "Out Of Control" from the first Wayne County/Electric Chairs album produced by Martin Birch in 1978,which has the same identifying intro that was used on "2 Minutes To Midnight" by Iron Maiden,produced by Martin Birch, in 1982...
_________________________
fablalumia
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#699649 - 02/08/10 06:34 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: Brett_Meisner]
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Hairbland
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Here's what did it for George:
In making its determination, the court looked at the structure of the two songs in question. He's So Fine consists of four repetitions of a short musical phrase - Motif A, followed by four repetitions of Motif B. The second use of the Motif B series includes a unique grace note, illustrated in Motif C.
My Sweet Lord has a very similar structure in that it consists of four repetitions of Motif A , followed by three repetitions of Motif B. Particularly telling, however, is that the fourth repetition of Motif B includes the grace note illustrated in Motif C. It is possible that this grace note is what pushed the court over the edge in determining infringement.
In the course of its opinion, the court seems to imply that the infringement was really Billy Preston's fault. Apparently, George and Billy were jamming in Copenhagen when they started to riff off of Motif A. However, when they were recording the song back in London, Billy was the the principal musician while George was engineering the sessions. In the process of polishing the riffs into a song at this session, the Motif B and Motif C combinations came to be added to the original Motif A.
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#699652 - 02/08/10 06:42 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: Hairbland]
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jimi lalumia
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is the intro,which,on radio, really telegraphs the song's arrival to the listener, more important than lifting some licks midway through?
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fablalumia
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#699665 - 02/08/10 07:14 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: jimi lalumia]
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Brett_Meisner
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is the intro,which,on radio, really telegraphs the song's arrival to the listener, more important than lifting some licks midway through?
That was sorta my second point. The girl who was in the car with me when the song came on said "I love Dolly Parton" as soon as the song started.
I was like "why are you talking about Dolly Parton?" Then I put the two together.
Brett
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#699670 - 02/08/10 07:31 PM
Re: When does "copyright infringement" kick in...
[Re: Brett_Meisner]
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mpj
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it doesn't really matter unless the copyright holder (or rep) files a complaint, right?
reminds me of the u2 song (vertigo?) that sounded just like "you keep me hanging on"...at least to me.
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