Musicology

I doubt it. Today I read an interesting article by Christopher J. Buccafusco, Professor of Law at Yeshiva University, entitled The Blurred Lines of Copyright Law Are Limiting Musical Creativity. Buccafusco argues or perhaps thinks manifest that the “innovation space” of music is dwindling naturally because, first, the field is increasingly full of the protected intellectual …

Poor guy needs a musicologize scoreboard all to himself. And there’s no way he’s excited to see Richard Busch coming at him again. Nobody would be, dude’s a beast. And perhaps Ed’s preternaturally easy going demeanor has reached its limit, because Sheeran has countersued and wants this thing tossed out. Good luck. There’s no way …

And by “man” I mean any “news” service that bothers to tell this tale and wastes your time and mine. Oh, it could’ve been reasonable. It isn’t, but it coulda been. Coulda been that some guy in Texas wrote a tune. And then someone somehow heard Texas guy’s track and then, perhaps quite by accident, …

Only a few weeks ago, I was dismantling the well trodden idea that Radiohead oughta be suing Sam Smith over “Midnight Train.” This month all the chatter is about Radiohead suing Lana Del Rey over her personal manifesto, “Get Free.” It’s true about the lawsuit. Although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead …

Disney Just Got Hit With Lawsuit For Allegedly Ripping Off ‘Let It Go’ From ‘Frozen.’ Jamie Ciero is complaining that “Let It Go,” (written by the very competent Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez) and his track, “Volar,” include note combinations and structures, hooks, melodies, lyrics, themes, production, and textures that are at least substantially similar. And …

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Radiohead to sue Sam Smith over “Midnight Train.” Back in 2014, when Sam Smith’s had his mega-hit with “Stay With Me” (which won him four Grammy’s including the two biggies, SOTY and ROTY, and made Smith a star) it was widely observed that “Stay With Me” sounded a helluva …

This will be the most essential music theory lesson you will ever read in under ten minutes. Victor Hugo said, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent,” which is just great, but it doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t put music into words. Theory and musical terminology are what …

Oct 6, 2017 Oral arguments begin today in the appeal of the “Blurred Lines” case. And any forensic musicologist worth their salt has to care. Any modern day composer or songwriter has to care. One needn’t necessarily root, but you gotta care, because it matters a great deal, not whether Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke …

What’s the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement?   It’s largely a matter of what’s immoral as opposed to what’s illegal. Let’s take plagiarism first. When we throw out the term “plagiarism,” we mean “taking and passing off another person’s words or ideas as your own, without attribution (crediting the source),” and it’s considered wrong, …

Is this just another frivolous lawsuit? How can we tell? accessToday we learned that canadian songwriters, now plaintiffs, Ronald McNeill and Georgia Lyons-Savage are suing Carrie Underwood and claim to have composed the chorus, melody and lyrics to “Something In The Water.” Carrie Underwood’s begins her greatest hits record (hard to believe she has one already) …