[Dixielandjazz] Re: Art

[david richoux]

there was a rather interesting lawsuit about variations on 4' 33"

Dave Richoux
================================
Music publisher claims copyright on silence
  Last Updated 2002-07-08
  http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/silencea020702
Arts Now

London - When British composer and producer Mike Batt put a one-minute 
silent track on an album he was putting together, he didn't expect to 
get a notice of copyright infringement.

But representatives of John Cage, an avant-garde composer who died in 
1992, are claiming that Batt violated the copyright on Cage's 1952 
silent composition 4'33''.

Batt put together an album for the Planets, a group of eight classical 
music protégés, which included variations on several classical pieces.

He added in a track at the end of the CD, called "One Minute's 
Silence," as a nod to the Cage composition. Batt listed the composer of 
the silent track as "Batt/Cage" in the album's credits, but that was 
"just for a laugh," he told London's Independent newspaper.

It was apparently that credit that caught the attention of Cage's 
publishers.

Batt said he received a letter on their behalf, claiming royalties on 
the track. Batt said he was "in hysterics" when he read the letter.

When Batt told his mother, he says her reply was, "Which part of the 
silence are they claiming you nicked?"

Gene Caprioglio, a representative of Cage's American publisher told the 
L.A. Times that the British organization that collects royalties sent 
Batt its standard license form.

Caprioglio said the Independent article tries to make the publisher 
look foolish, but it was Batt, after all, who credited Cage as the 
composer.
On Thursday, Dec 4, 2003, at 10:56 US/Pacific, Edgerton, Paul A wrote:

> Mike Durham writes,
>> Bill, someone already sent me 4'33" but it sounds identical to one of 
>> my
> own
>> works, 4'37", only a little shorter. Should I sue this guy Cage?
>
> If the essence of art lies in what is left out, then obviously your 
> work
> needs further editing. I urge you do go the extra mile because you 
> score may
> contain within it the germ of an infectious musical moment. In other 
> words,
> you may already have won.
>
> It has been said that the process of sculpting is a simple matter of
> removing everything that is not a statue. In the same way, music is 
> best
> when pared to the essentials -- the Baroque period notwithstanding. In 
> that
> context, I am pleased to announce publication of my latest composition
> entitled "Seventeen Microseconds."
>
> I'll have a zip file available for downloading soon. Unfortunately for 
> all
> you Macophiles, I am unable to produce a Stuffit version.
>
> Paul Edgerton,
> Who is currently building a music library for the ADD market.
>
>
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