Waxworks Lyrical

[Birchy]

Is there a limit on how many consecutive words may be 'copied' before infringement of copyright kicks in? Or are these kind of things contested and defended on an individual basis, without precedent?

[answerbok]

not that i expect any response from birchy but for the benefit of others reading, i believe it's 5% of printed matter, including maps. just a foot in the door though, i could be way off. :-)

[jenstar]

I believe the important thing in plagiarism is whether it is a "substantial" lift. So a lot depends on how original the supposed phrase was in the first place and how similar the melody the words are set to is. For instance, you could surely use the phrase "strangers in the night" in a lyric quite safely - unless you used the same tune those words are set to in the famous song of that title, in which case you would clearly be lifting from it and would have to pay royalties. That's quite a clear-cut, black & white example - but musical plagiarism is an area where subjective judgement often comes into play, and there are a lot of shades of grey.

[answerbok]

And George Harrison lost his case against the Chiffons people over 'He's So Fine' after he claimed that the intro melody was copied from 'My Sweet Lord'

[Birchy]

I don't know what answerbok is referring to re-my responses..........can I assume that if somebody "answers" a question, the asker should then get back and thank the answerer? Hmm. And as an add-on to the George Harrison business, he actually said that his inspiration for "My Sweet Lord" came from "Oh Happy Day" by Edwin Hawkins Singers. That Chiffons plagiarism bid was preposterous. And another add-on was GH's own dig at the Chiffons writers in a number entitled "This Song", in which he and Eric Idle send up the court's decision.