crtical assesment of articles on litigations in the music industry
For this assignment I chose to critically assess the articles in week eight of the readings in the course kit, under the heading “Musical Works and Compositions”. I selected the subject of music because my knowledge is limited in this section of the fine arts and I felt the need to increase my understanding of the issues that arise in this area of the legal arena. ... The next two articles are federal supplements citing two cases namely “Bright Tunes Music Corp., v Harrison’s Music Ltd., et al” and “ABKCO Music Inc., v Harrison’s Music Ltd. ... The first case was a suit brought against Harrison by Bright Tunes Music Corp who claimed that the hit seventies song “My Sweet Lord” was plagiarised from “He’s so fine”, composed by Ronald Mack and first recorded in 1962 by a singing group called the Chiffons, which also was a hit in the sixties. ... Also the questioning of how George Harrison came to chose the notes he did for his song does raise an interesting idea, as to “why a composer chooses the succession of harmonies that he does” because it would seem such an idea would emerge in disputes of plagiarising music. ... ABKCO became the substituted plaintiff from the acquisition of the rights to the song “He’s so fine” from Bright Tunes Music Corp. A counter suit was filed by Harrison Music Inc., claiming “a breach of fiduciary duty” by ABKCO, arguing that Klein had interfered with the proceedings after the trial between Harrison Music Inc. and Bright Tunes Music Corp. ... The result was that ABKCO was found in breach of contract of fiduciary duty and was not eligible for damages and the rights of “He’s so fine” were to be sold to Harrison’s Music Ltd. ... The next article is a rather pleasing piece of writing discussing the effects copyright law has in the world of music, called “Copyright and Music” . ... That owning a piece of music is owning a form of property and the same rules of property law apply, “you can sell it, lease it , bequeath it or give it away and you can attach virtually any conditions you wish to these transactions” . ... The fluidity of the style of writing seems to flow like music which encourages the reader to understand the law through a simplistic perspective. ... I found the article reflected on relevant and important issues that affect author’s of works that in this day and age, the idea of author as sole creator or genius is dying out, as we move towards an age of collaboration especially when it comes to music. ... All the articles in this week’s selection concentrate on copyright law as it pertains to musical works and all of them reiterate the rights outlined in the Copyright Act. The first two articles citing the George Harrison cases differ fundamentally from the other two articles mainly in terms of the author’s intentions. The first two articles give an overview of the disputes involved in the trials and describe the process of determining which party was in breach of contract and who would be responsible to pay damages. The styles of writing of the first two articles are similar to the last review written by Professor Cornish, in terms of the scholastic approach to the subject of copyright law. The common perspectives shared by all the articles in this section are mainly in determining the degree as to which an author of a work has a right and or control over his work and how these rights can be infringed with reference to musical works.