Musicology

Jay-Z and Timbaland still have to deal with Ernie Hines after all. If there is no settlement, and I really hope there is not, this case is way more interesting than it at first appears; a lot to look at. How’s it likely to end? We’ll get to that. First though, let’s look at the …

This is an actual email I received from an artist scared to put their own work out into the world for fear it would be copied, plagiarized, infringed upon, otherwise ripped off: “I’m a producer and songwriter. I’d love to show my stuff to producers and artists, but I’m afraid they’ll steal it. Should I …

Got time for a quick story? Just last week my daughter all of the sudden wanted to learn acoustic guitar. Specifically, Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird.” Two days later, with a little help from me and a little from the internet, pretty much never having touched a guitar prior, she could play Blackbird. (Thanks to some youtube …

A forensic musicologist applies musical expertise to illuminate the relevant truths in matters of civil law and there are four or five common situations in which they get a call. 1. Someone is suing you for copyright infringement. An accusation has been made that you copied another’s work, and although you’re sure their mistaken, you …

Marshmello got summary judgment, and here’s why I’m surprised. Arty, a fairly successful DJ and remixer, sued Marshmello whose biggest hit “Happier,” contains an instrumental hook that sounds a ton like a hook from Arty’s remix of a New Republic song, “I Lived.” Musicologize has articles about the similarity, but for now, it appears irrelevant. …

One of the stupidest cases to ever come down the pike, Taylor Swift and Evermore Theme Park have dropped their respective lawsuits against one another. Why am I even writing about a lawsuit that involves no forensic musicology whatsoever and is stupid besides? I’m not sure how to rationalize it actually. But I am sure …

A cautionary tale for composers? Arty (DJ Artem Stoliarov) is suing Marshmello whose biggest hit, “Happier,” in Arty’s view infringes on a work of his called “I Lived (Arty Remix).) There’s a Musicologize article about the question of similarity between “Happier,” and “I Lived (Arty Remix)” which is a remix of One Republic’s “I Lived.” …

Recently, U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt ruled that Pharrell Williams did not commit perjury in testimony about “Blurred Lines” when it and his creative process were the focus of a copyright infringement lawsuit. I know I’ve opined a lot about the song of the summer in 2013, and the 2015 trial in which it …

You might ask, “Didn’t Minaj win this case months ago?? “Fair use” or something?” And we covered that, but it was only half the story. The interesting thing about the Tracy Chapman v Nicki Minaj case was never whether or not there was infringement. Chapman alone has the right to distribute a copy of “Baby …

Preemptive. Preventative. Responsible. “Responsible” might be the best word for it. You know this already: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It’s a proverb most often attributed to Ben Franklin that emphasizes the importance of taking proactive steps to avoid problems in the first place, rather than waiting until a problem …