A documentary from Denmark on Girl Talk, Bridgeport Music, sampling, and copyright:
Monday, July 7, 2008
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"The principle of collage is the central principle of all art in the twentieth century." -- Donald Barthelme (1931-1989)
The contents of this site are not intended and should not be taken as legal advice.
This blog is an ongoing exploration of issues related to copyright and fair use in our contemporary digital culture. The blog began and continued through April 2008 as a class project in Peter Friedman’s Legal Analysis & Writing classes at Case Western Reserve University of Law during the spring 2008 semester. The students wrote cross-motions for summary judgment in a fictional lawsuit brought by the owners of the copyright to "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)." The Plaintiffs (represented by half of my students) alleged infringement of their copyright in Que Sera, Sera by the KLF, the real-life creators of an actual recording entitled "K Cera Cera." K Cera Cera (mp3) is a recording of the Red Army Choir singing an amalgam of Que Sera, Sera and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (the War is Over). The second half of the students, of course, represented the Defendants. In the course of the students' work in researching and writing their summary judgment briefs, the professor and the students posted items here that raise and explore the legal and policy implications implicit in and related to the infringement claim and Defendants' fair use defense. The relevant documents the students had to work from were the following:
(1) Plaintiffs' Complaint filed in the fictional action.
(2) Defendants' Answer filed in the fictional action.
(3) Excerpts from the deposition of Joyce Hatto, Senior Director of A&R for Defendant Arista Records.
(4) Excerpts from Plaintiffs' Responses to Defendants' Requests to Admit.
(5) A discussion regarding ASCAP's standing as a plaintiff is contained in the comments to William Patry's blog post here.
In light of the timeliness and open-endedness of the issues raised by the fictional lawsuit, the blog will continue despite the completion of the project and of the school year.