[talmand]

From my understanding none of those things were used in the comparison nor any samples actually used. It was that the new song "sounds like" the old song is the criticism. Which could be expanded to mean the person who created a genre of music owns it.

If a musician can be sued for being inspired by another, then dark times are ahead for all musicians.

"What was your inspiration for this song?" "No comment."

[fixermark]

Agreed.

It's worth remembering that nobody knows the original composer of the "Superman" theme. While John Williams is credited with arranging the cinematic version, his arrangement was based on the television show theme. That theme was purchased sans-crédit from a French artist via a system intentionally architected to leverage the at-the-time gaps in international law to minimize Hollywood's cost burden for music scores.

To maintain this protection, they intentionally did not track the pedigree of the theme. This is a loss for history.

[falcolas]

That's my concern as well. You can trace inspirations back throughout history. Paintings, music, writing - all benefit from previous works.

What happens in the print world when a the idea of a "revenge fantasy" becomes copyrightable? When the use of certain chord progressions can cost you the revenue from a particular song? When a movie containing "triumph in the face of adversity through superhuman powers" can't be done because someone else did it first?