Don’t mess with my melody! What happens when arrangers end up in court.
Copyright law is supposed to incentivize creative expression, but court rulings on arrangements have had the opposite effect. In Episode 4, we learn why the courts have called arrangers "mere mechanics," stifling creativity from the 19th century right up through songwriter Ed Sheeran's recent trial.
Guests:
Kembrew McLeod is a professor of communication studies at University of Iowa. McLeod co-produced the documentary Copyright Criminals, and with Peter DiCola, he wrote Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling, Duke University Press, 2011. https://communicationstudies.uiowa.edu/people/kembrew-mcleod, https://www.dukeupress.edu/creative-license
Charles Cronin is a lawyer, musician, and historical musicologist in Los Angeles. He has taught at Claremont Graduate University and George Washington University, and he helped build GWU's extremely handy Music Copyright Infringement Resource. https://blogs.law.gwu.edu/mcir/authors-and-contributors/
Salvatore Pappalardo is a professor of English in the English Department of Towson University in Maryland. https://www.towson.edu/cla/departments/english/facultystaff/spappalardo.html
Thanks to:
Kembrew McLeod
Charles Cronin
Salvatore Pappalardo
Please check out Joanna Demers's book Steal This Music: How Intellectual Property Law Affects Musical Creativity, University of Georgia Press, 2006. https://ugapress.org/book/9780820327778/steal-this-music/
The theme music and other scoring music for Rearranged was written and recorded by Lawrence Lanahan.
Music discussed:
“Satin Doll,” Duke Ellington
“I Got Rhythm,” George Gershwin
“Rhythm-A-Ning,” Thelonious Monk
“Ornithology,” Charlie Parker
“Donna Lee,” Miles Davis
Go!, Dexter Gordon, Blue Note, 1962
“Choir,” James Newton
“Pass the Mic,” Beastie Boys
“D.O.G. in Me,” Public Announcement
“Atomic Dog,” George Clinton
“Love Break,” Salsoul Orchestra
“Vogue,” Madonna
“Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke
“Fish Market,” Steely and Clevie
“Dem Bow,” Shabba Ranks
“Despacito,” Daddy Yankee/Luis Fonsa
“Happy Together,” The Turtles
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran
“Let’s Get it On,” Marvin Gaye