Appeals Court Still Says 'Down Under' Infringes On Decades Old Folk Song
from the men-at-work dept
A couple years ago, Australian music publisher Larrikin Music accused the iconic 80s Australian band "Men at Work" (and its label, EMI) of infringing on its copyright for the classic Australian folk song Kookaburra in their hit song Down Under. You can listen to both songs in the videos below:This is ridiculous for a variety of reasons. It's clearly not a straight copy, but a use of the well-known folk song to represent the atmosphere of Australia. The fact that Larrikin didn't even notice until it was pointed out on TV should also suggest that this wasn't some massive infringement issue. Finally, the fact that the song was a hit in the early '80s should have set off some sort of statute of limitations issue. Instead, Larrikin won...
EMI reasonably appealed the ruling, but chillienet points out that Larrikin has won on appeal as well, as a three-judge panel ruled that the song is infringing. The court even ordered EMI to pay the court costs as well. I guess the lesson is clear: don't promote decades old folk songs in your music in Australia.
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Filed Under: australia, copyright, folk song, kookaburra
Companies: emi, larrikin music
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1) Music does not operate like some other art forms, such as writing, in that a single expression does not represent a specific idea. For example, the sentence "He went to the store." can only mean one thing, that a male traveled to a store. The series of notes C(1/4)-E(1/8)-G(1/4)-E(1/8)-C(1/4), however has no specific meaning.
2) Since music has no specific meaning, it operates on a different level of conciousness then literature, and therefore it's difficult to tell whether a series of notes is wholly original or based on something remembered.
3) The only way to know for sure is for music to be composed by those who have never heard any other music before, which would be nearly impossible to do.
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Let's use literature, in which you say one expression only has one meaning:
a) Woman without her man, is nothing.
b) Woman: without her, man is nothing.
Same words, or string of letters composing an idea, however completely different meaning.
Another example:
a) He didn't marry her because she was rich.
b) He didn't marry her, because she was rich.
Even in literature, the same foundation letters can be used to create expression that encapsulates a different idea, even if the basic 'notes' are the same.
Completely unrelated, I had the pleasure of being in (lead singer of Men at Work) Colin Hay's audience the first time he performed that song after the ruling. He got a standing ovation, and rightly so. I've not seen anyone applaud Larrakin. Just because the court agrees with you, still doesn't mean the general population (read: market) will.
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If there was a copyright violation, EMI got off easy, it didn't even pay the minimum statutory damages that they would demand in copyright cases. Let's see how they'd feel giving up $700 per sale, stream or broadcast of the song to Larrikin.
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Man, I hate stupid anonymous cowards.
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There was a lot of irony in that statement which you seemed to miss...
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This is Theft.
Culture has been stolen from the people. It continues to happen and only gets worse as ridiculous laws continue to expand the depth and breadth of copyright.
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Re: This is Theft.
The first African American to ever win an oscar was the portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South. That has now been expunged from history so now only older people who remember watching the movie have any idea what these stories are all about.
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Show me ANY song that doesn't use at least 5% of a pre-existing song.
If this type of judgement became the norm it wopuld kill music stone dead.
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Explanation please....
Apparently, both the justice system and the direction in which water flows South of the equator are in direct contrast to what happens North of the equator!
I consider myself pretty open minded but I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around this one (or two if you count the appeal that was also lost).
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Re: Explanation please....
Righthaven ?
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Yes I know it is a bit of cutting off ones nose to spite its face, but if Larrikin is going to be a dick about something written 80 years ago and should have been in the public domain to begin with then to hell with them (Larrikin and company).
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See, this is why
This is why copyright needs to last damn near forever. It can take a LONG time to figure out if something is infringing.
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Re: See, this is why
How much in royalties is the song making?
This is as bad as the gym fees for songs that was being promoted close to a year ago.
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Re: See, this is why
Can't you see that Larrikin Music needs this sort of incentive so that they will be encouraged to produce additional works of art? Clearly, copyright is working here as intended and we will soon be seeing a new CD hit the charts from Larrikin Music. I'm sure it will kick ash.
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grammar FAIL
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Re: grammar FAIL
Your welcome!
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Oh, the agony of the apostrophe!
*eye twitches*
Diz is BADE!
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Sorry about that."
how about a fuck you Sony?
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Unless you are in Germany. If you are, you're out of luck
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Finally...
With any luck, the coffee shops and subway platforms will empty out and the courtrooms will fill up with a bizarre mix of neo-hippies and various representatives of K-Tel 80's compilations.
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No, the lesson is don't use someone else's copyright material in your song. If you want to pay tribute to something, get the rights first and do the tribute after.
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God help us the day someone like Lady Gaga is a "folk singer"
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A case like this will make you chunder*
Can you hear all the lawyers plunder
I'm gonna run, I'm gonna take cover
This flute riff has been deleted due to a copyright claim by Larrakin Music. Sorry about that :\
(*chunder = vomit)
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journal
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