4 Jul
2003
4 Jul
'03
12:05 p.m.
Bo Diddley listened to (and borrowed from) every
other blues
musician around at the time.
Of course. He did have some original contributions to make, but he
just didn't get the financial rewards for them. So when I hear the
industry moaning that p2p is ripping off musicians, I sense
hypocrisy.
The fairy tales *are* public domain, Mickey Mouse was
an original
creation.
I think you'll find that there was little original about Steamboat
Willie.
You can legally parody Mickey Mouse any time you want
(it's been done a million times).
Actually Disney have a long history of suing parodies - Air Pirates
being the most famous I think:
http://reason.com/links/links011703.shtml
My point was that
*everyone* has had it bad at some point in their life. No one has
exclusive rights on suffering. I get real tired of hearing that
old line - you can't play blues because you're A) white, B) not
poor, C) didn't grow up during the depression, D) not an
alcoholic/addict, E) not from Mississippi, F) fill in your reason
here.
I think Clapton et al have every right to play the blues, just not to
claim ownership of them. To illustrate the point, the RIAA could now
sue an original Delta bluesman with a freely downloaded Clapton track
on his hard drive. Doesn't that possibility, albeit theoretical,
strike you as a bit odd?
Music, of any genre, is not the sole property of any
one
group of people. You can still play and write good reggae even if
you're not from Jamaica ;-)
Clapton also covered I Shot The Sherriff of course. Ironically, UB40,
who are from the UK, partly white, and therefore not authentic enough
for most white reggae fans, were massive in Jamaica.
Cheers
Daniel