But if you
independently come up with a tune, or a Limerick,
never having seen or
heard an earlier, copyrighted example of that sequence
of notes or of
words, then you cannot successfully be sued for copyright
infringement.
The problem is, and inideed George Harrison's problem was,
that the judge decided he must have once heard it even if he couldn't remember
hearing it. Worse, the judge delved into the subconscious. What
proof is there that the subconscious is anything more than a convenient
intellectual construct used to explain mysteries to the satsifaction of the
explainer?