People have put various thoughts forth here about whether or not contra dance sequences are sufficiently original to be copyrightable. In my view, they are. In some others' views, apparently they're not. If they are not, then yes, nobody can take legal action based on copyrighted dances. If they are, then fair use is not going to provide a safe harbor. It's a narrower doctrine than most people think it is in the first place (a lot of people claim "fair use" when their use would never hold up as "fair use" in court), and contra dances that charge admission would almost certainly be outside of fair use.
Your example isn't really what we're talking about here, either. If you conjure up a dance on the spot, you did not violate a copyright even if dances are copyrightable and somebody else has already come up with that sequence of figures. If two people independently produce the same exact work of art, they each have a copyright to it. Doesn't really happen in most instances, but with contra dances, it happens all the time. On Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 11:16 AM, Greg McKenzie <[email protected]> wrote: > David wrote: > > > Fair use does not cover public performance at a contra dance. > > > > This assumes, however, that a specific sequence of common figures > constitutes a copyrightable work by the author. I am not at all convinced > that this is the case. If I conjure up a dance, on the spot, at a gig and > call it using my own instructions I don't see how anyone can claim that > they already "own" the rights to that sequence of figures. They can > copyright the *name *of the dance, the *book *they publish it in, and > any *comments > *they may make about the dance--but to take legal action on the sequence of > figures alone would be a fools errand. I think their "case" would never > make it to court. > > Just a thought. > > Greg McKenzie > West Coast, USA > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers > -- David Casserly (cell) 781 258-2761
