Originally published at: Ed Sheeran wins copyright infringement case | Boing Boing
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He seems like a decent chap; I hope he gets his costs paid, at least.
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I’ll just leave this here
Or this!
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thank goodness. how many times do we have to litigate this, anyway?
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This article (which I also posted in the music thread) addresses some of the roots of this wave of lawsuits:
As always, blame capitalism.
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Those publishing companies buying up entire artist’ catalogues are going to make this worse, aren’t they?
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It already is, if this article is be believed…
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Licensing a portion of a song to shamelessly monetize a purpose-built “song” around it.
Yup, it’s happening.
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Also, check out this thread I posted over in the union thread about the Writer’s strike which to my mind is related to this:
I know I don’t need to convince you of this, but… I’ve long argued that popular culture matters, and especially the business of culture. Since people often just assume it’s “entertainment” rather than a crucial aspect of our core humanity, they don’t see a need to focus on how the entertainment sausage is made or to ensure that the marketplace for culture is regulated like any other sector of the economy. The corporate take over of our dreamscape is really dangerous, and we need to work to re-inject democratic practices into the production of music, films, TV, literature, comics, etc…
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It doesn’t stifle creativity, as we have more tools available than at any point in humanity, but it does crush the distribution of creative works and limit any messages it contains.
The creative industry as a whole is returning to something remarkably close to artistic patronage, except this time it is corporations, not individuals, who hold the power.
It makes political messaging easier to control, it makes narratives easier to control. Anybody thinking tight, in-house IP control is purely about the money hasn’t been paying attention.
Who makes art (or music, movies etc.), who finances it, how, where and when they distribute it, it all matters and it always has. Who said “Degenerate”…?
When money controls art you get less voices, and when most of the money is in one place then that culture is in trouble, and the art you are shown will not reflect it honestly.
Look for the unpublicised shows, the zines, the kids shouting to be heard, they’re far more likely to tell you the truth.
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If this is a case based solely on chord progression, I’d cite “I’ve Got Rhythm” as prior precedent…
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Beat me to it.
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Glad to hear it; this particular lawsuit was a blatant money grab, IMO.
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Does anyone else remember “Melancholy Elephants” by Spider Robinson?
Spider Robinson: Melancholy Elephants has the full story
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…Is it better if we do or don’t remember it? 
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This.
When I’m talking to people who doubt this, I point out an archaeological dig in Africa where they knew they had hominid bones before they had them even moderately uncovered: there was a necklace made of shells in the dig.
Dancing, singing, making art - it’s what we do. It’s what we have to do.
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Yep… I also reject the BS idea that only creative geniuses can make art. We’re all creative in our own ways, and we can all make art if we want to do so. The people who end up doing it professionally - they work on it, hard, sometimes for years! I think there may be some people who are just better at making art that connects with people, but I think we’re all capable of creativity… as you say, it’s what we have to do!
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I could be wrong but my understanding is that the people running Marvin Gaye’s estate and consequently the IP rights to his music are absolutely awful.
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This lawsuit was brought by the estate of Ed Townsend, not Marvin Gaye. I don’t think they’re awful people. I think they’re people who looked around and saw modern artists and record companies making boatloads of money from music that, to their ears, sounded awfully similar to Townsend’s music. Combine that with a very real history of white musicians blatantly stealing black musicians’s art and passing it off as their own (looking at you, Rolling Stones), and the fact that Townsend’s family may not understand music theory as well as Rick Beato and Adam Neely, and I don’t think that their accusations make them bad people. I think they were wrong in this instance, and they probably got bad advice from some lawyers, and they may also be horrible people, but I don’t think this case is proof of the latter.
