Erik your Question # 3), this much I know in regard
to the actual case law used in the He's so Fine , My Sweet Lord
controversy or in legalese :aka
Bright Tunes Music Corp. vs.. Harrisongs Music,
Ltd.,
420 F.Supp. 177 (1976)
Paraphrasing Erik;
George Harrison getting sued for
having a "simular" hook line to the Shirelles in his song "My Sweet
Lord"?
Erik, I didn't agree with the decision of the
courts myself read on and you may understand why the court ruled the
way they did. Oh FYI it was the Chiffons and not the Shirelles (Mary Well
and the Shirelles did have "My Guy" as hit about the same time as the
Chiffons "He's so Fine" ,1963)
The court in Bright Tunes Music Corp. vs..
Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 420 F.Supp. 177 (1976), concluded that George Harrison
had indeed infringed upon the copyright of He's So Fine . The decision was
unique in that the court acknowledged that Harrison may have unconsciously
copied the tune.
The court stated:
"His subconscious knew it already had worked in a song his conscious did not remember... That is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished."
"His subconscious knew it already had worked in a song his conscious did not remember... That is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished."
Huh ? What did he
say ? Oh I get it now . . . that makes perfect sense to me. . . yea right !
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, this is better seen if one is studying the actual sheet music and
the individual motifs.
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, once again this is better seen when studying the actual sheet music in Motif C. It is possible that this grace note is what pushed the court over the edge in determining infringement.
I don't know about sampling, so I won't speak on
the subject, but I hope this may be helpful. Maybe someone knows the
sampling/copyright laws and could explain it to those of us that may
be interested.
KC in SJ
