Musicology

What’s next, following this week’s en banc hearing? Earlier this week, eleven Ninth Circuit judges heard arguments in the continuing case of Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ infringement case. This en banc hearing focused not so much on musical matters per se but legal ones such as erroneous jury instructions in the …

Stairway v. Taurus (actually Led Zeppelin v Skidmore) returns to court Monday, Sept 23 for an en banc hearing in the Ninth Circuit and although there are other articles here on Musicologize that cover this case from all angles, I wanted to recap a bit and compile the key aspects. Here’s a quick rundown on …

Rarely am I anything but dismayed that my kids are getting older. I’m grateful though that “Baby Shark” was never playing on loop in my home. My kids were a few years too old to have gotten caught up in that.  However, “Baby Shark” has been looping in the copyright news for a little while …

First things first, the Kraftwerk case was initiated in Germany twenty years ago and decided recently by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Copyright laws vary in some ways from place to place, but behind intellectual property laws are philosophical principles that evolve. And especially philosophical decisions like this one move discussions along …

In the days following the Katy Perry Dark Horse verdict, my newsfeed was packed with articles about what a bad omen it was; how it sent chills down composers’ and songwriters’ spines and would hinder creativity. Also, that it would herald an era of frivolous lawsuits where little-known artists would shakedown successful artists into nuisance …

This is the third Musicologize article on the subject. Here, links to the previous two. A year ago, when it became evident this wasn’t going to settle. Tried to cover everything that would likely matter. Mid-trial, Occam’s Razor style: The core truth in just three minutes — how Dark Horse’s ‘beat’ is actually made of …

Lil Nas X was having a banner week. Old Town Road just tied the record for most weeks at #1. Today we learn he’s is being sued for 25 million for another track, “Carry On.” This is going to be fascinating not because there’s any question that Lil Nas X’s “Carry On” is full of …

“Entities should not be multiplied without necessity!!” That’s Occam’s Razor. Or, as an old friend of mine used to lazily put it, “don’t hurt yourself looking for a more elaborate explanation when a simpler one will do.” This really will only take three minutes. Katy Perry is in court as I’m typing this, defending her …

Hot take: Maybe they did, but not from David Henderson and friends. Today we learn that 5 Seconds of Summer, the Australians who gave us the hit song “Youngblood” last year, are being sued by David Henderson, David Toth and Peter Ferencz because the opening melody lines of Youngblood are very similar to the melody …

Everybody knows Led Zeppelin was/is getting sued by Spirit over “Stairway To Heaven.” And almost everybody knows Ed Sheeran is getting sued (what else is new?) by Ed Townsend over Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” which Townsend co-wrote. I’ve covered both cases quite a bit, here and here, and actually if you wanna …