Can You Copyright Pi? Lawsuit Filed Over Copyright On Pi Symphony

from the copyrighting-pi dept

You may recall that last month, we wrote about a bizarre and silly dispute concerning two different composers who had each written a song based on the number pi. The more recent song, done by Michael Blake, was set up pretty simply:
He decided the song would be in C, then assigned each note a number: C=1, D=2 and so on up through 9. Using those assignments, he played the sequence of pi: 3.14159 through 31 decimal places. He assigned numbers to chords, too, but could only play the chords every other note and still make it sound vaguely musical.

Finally, he used pi as the basis for the tempo -- it's 157 beats per minute, which is half of 314.
Another guy, named Lars Erickson, apparently came up with something similar back in 1992, and even went so far as to register a copyright on the output. Blake had posted a video on YouTube of his version, and Erickson issued a takedown. Erickson, in talking about this, admitted that he only took action because he was upset that someone removed comments about his song on the YouTube page with Blake's song. Of course, we doubted this would ever go so far as an actual lawsuit. We were wrong. Billy Wenge-Murphy alerts us to the news that following Blake's counternotice and YouTube's reinstatement of the video, Erickson has sued. You can see his filing below.

I'm a bit surprised Erickson's lawyers didn't talk him out of this. It's hard to see how he has anything approaching a legitimate copyright claim. After all, Judge Learned Hand famously explained that if two people come up with the same content independently, without copying one another, there is no copyright issue:
... if by some magic a man who had never known it were to compose anew Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn, he would be an "author," and, if he copyrighted it, others might not copy that poem, though they might of course copy Keats's.
Assuming Blake did not copy Erickson, there's simply no issue at all. Of course, even if he did copy Erickson, there are reasonable questions as to what in Erickson's song is actually copyrightable. Obviously, the concept of a song based on pi is not, because you can't copyright ideas. The actual song parts based on pi are not, because Erickson does not own pi. The only thing that might qualify for a copyright could be specific creative choices that Erickson made, but it's unclear if Blake copied any of those. And, in fact, nothing in the legal filing (embedded below) delves into that issue at all. Erickson, instead, seems to assume (falsely) that only he can make music based on pi.

The key point that Erickson seems to be relying on is the idea that he has "lost revenue" due to Blake's work. That, of course, is silly. First of all, writing a song based on Pi cannot and is not Erickson's exclusive idea. And, seriously, what "revenue" was he losing here? Erickson also complains about how Blake's work "dilutes the market," but this isn't a trademark dispute, and I don't see how competition in the market with a different song violates copyright law.

I can't see this lawsuit getting very far at all, and it's really quite amazing that Erickson went through with it. Surely, someone somewhere along the way must have explained copyright law to him, right?
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Filed Under: copyright, music, pi


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  • icon
    Nom du Clavier (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:10am

    A lawsuit over Pi

    A lawsuit over Pi, how irrational.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:32am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      Too bad it's not imaginary.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:35am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      Hopefully the judge will explain the root of the problem with his filing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:57am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      I'd like to think the days of this suit are numbered, but I fear we'll never see the end of it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      hobo, 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:57am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      A math pun?

      What a square.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      el_segfaulto (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:12am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      I'd love to go to the hearing with a rainbow wig and a sign that says John 3:14

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Berenerd (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:36am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      I am sure he has a legitimate theorem of how to solve this legal equation..

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      The Groove Tiger (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:40am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      This may cause collateral damage in a big radius, but I'm afraid it's all going in circles now.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:56am

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      "I'm a bit surprised Erickson's lawyers didn't talk him out of this."

      Are you serious? Lawyers wanna get paid.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 3:56pm

      Re: A lawsuit over Pi

      eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 9:40am

    mmm, pie...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Jimr (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:01am

    The case will be open forever

    As an opening argument the defense needs to recite Pi... all of Pi, or at least to the point where it repeats.


    Although Erickson's lawyers seem to be a bit opportunities they might want to valid and check the validity of Pi to it natural conclusion too. The legal bill should be as long as Pi.

    Any else feel like having a pie for lunch now?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    E. Zachary Knight (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:03am

    Copyrighting pi?

    I think I need to register a patent on the process of creating musical compositions based on a string of numbers. I would be able to make millions by suing both of these people.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Atkray (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:23am

    "Surely, someone somewhere along the way must have explained copyright law to him, right? "

    Is that even possible?

    "I'm a bit surprised Erickson's lawyers didn't talk him out of this."

    He waved money in font of them...

    What would be good but probably won't happen is for the judge to send him and his attorney running for cover. But I fear the the Judge will play along with the charade

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Richard (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 10:59am

    You can't copyright mathematical formulae

    ANyone told these people that mathematical formulae fall outside copyright?

    Then again - since the digits of pi contain (somewhere in the sequence) the digital form of every work ever copyrighted - you shouldn't be able to copyright anything...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Apr 2011 @ 11:03am

    But then when I start mentioning the possibility of these "paranoid situations" I'm accused of worrying about outliers and being paranoid and all. No, these "paranoid situations" have merit and copy'right' law needs to address them. I haven't seen anyone addressing any of them or even attempt to beyond saying things like "outliers" "paranoid", etc...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Prashanth (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 12:20pm

    Holy crap, I think my friends' own video (that was only shared around our college community) got taken down too. (!!!!!)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    AZ Libertarian, 11 Apr 2011 @ 12:28pm

    Transcendental stupidity

    Not only does such a suit transcend common sense, the plaintiff is possibly being exploited by his attorneys, unless they are doing this pro bono. Obviously the plaintiff is irrationally angry and wants to somehow "punish" the other party by forcing them to defend a lawsuit.

    This is another example of why there needs to be a clear penalty for those who tie up the legal system with frivolous suits filed to simply harass someone.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Nick Coghlan (profile), 12 Apr 2011 @ 12:07am

    Conflict of Interest

    Erickson's lawyer gets paid for his time regardless of whether the suit has merit or not, so it isn't in the lawyer's personal interest to talk him out of it.

    Now, some lawyers actually take their professional ethics seriously and will persuade their clients not to file baseless suits, but that still leaves plenty of scope to shop around until you find a slightly less ethical one willing to profit by indulging your misplaced sense of outrage.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    scott mc laughlin (profile), 25 Apr 2011 @ 10:43am

    daft! I get my undergraduate composition students to do this kind of thing all the time as a basic exercise, it's a common as muck technique in music courses.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Yankee Infidel, 14 Mar 2012 @ 10:42am

    1 year later

    In honor of Pi Day one year later, what is the update on this bogus copyright claim in court?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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