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On 11/30/2011 07:47 AM, Julien Claassen wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:alpine.DEB.2.00.1111301345100.13869@britney.spears.net"
type="cite">Hello everyone!
<br>
I'd like to cite from a relatively recent work (1970), which of
course is still copyrighted. So can I do it per se? I'd just like
to cite a main phrase for a bit (2-4 bars) I suspect. any hints on
that would be very much appreciated.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Hi Julien,<br>
<br>
As others have pointed out, the legal status is unclear, probably by
the nature of the problem. Bear in mind that George Harrison was
busted for sol-mi-re in My Sweet Lord, it is the same melodic
progression as The Chiffons He's So Fine. Now, I don't know what
anyone else might think about it, but I find it hard to believe that
GH was consciously ripping off The Chiffons. From Wikipedia :<br>
<br>
"Harrison denied deliberately plagiarising the song, but he lost the
resulting court case in 1976 as the judge deemed that Harrison had
"subconsciously" plagiarised "He's So Fine". When considering liable
earnings, "My Sweet Lord"'s contribution to the sales of <i>All
Things Must Pass</i> and <i><a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_George_Harrison"
title="The Best of George Harrison">The Best of George Harrison</a></i>
were taken into account, and the judge decided a figure of
$1,599,987 was owed to Bright Tunes.<sup
id="cite_ref-Plagiarism_96-0" class="reference"><a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Harrison#cite_note-Plagiarism-96"><span></span></a></sup>
The dispute over damages became complicated when Harrison's former
manager <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Klein"
title="Allen Klein">Allen Klein</a> purchased the copyright to
"He's So Fine" from Bright Tunes in 1978. In 1981, a district judge
decided that Klein had acted improperly, and it was agreed that
Harrison should pay Klein $587,000, the amount Klein had paid for
"He's So Fine", so he would gain nothing from the deal, and that
Harrison would take over ownership of Bright Tunes, making him the
owner of the rights to both "My Sweet Lord" and "He's So Fine" and
thus ending the copyright infringement claim. Though the dispute
dragged on into the 1990s, the district judge's decision was
upheld."<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
dp<br>
<br>
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