Dumbest Music Copyright Thing I Have Ever Heard
I never get involved in court cases, especially if they have nothing to do with me, but I couldn’t resist this one. I was watching the news tonight and amonst a whole lot of very boring stuff, something jumped out at me.
You may remember an Australian Band called Men at Work, they had a it with a song called Down Under. … “he just smiled and gve me a vegemite sandwich….on a Hippie trail head full of Zombie” fame. Well, there is a claim that the tune Down Under is a rip off of a childrens song called Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, here is the article Daily Telegraph Kookaburra Sits in he Old Gum Tree. What made me laugh is that the part that is supposedly ripped off is a bar or so in the flute solo. I struggled when I heard the accusation, in fact I roared with laughter. Musicians quote from other tunes in solos on numerous occassions. The relationship between the main tune with its pseudo reggae beat to the solo is close to irrelevant. I’ll be watching this one with wonder and awe.
Meanwhile I’ve just been listening to Milton Nascimento sing Ghost Riders in the Sky in Portugeuse.
I’m waiting for the first court case about someone claiming the E chord or the pentatonic scale… This should be fun!!