Re: plagiarism (still off-topic)

[cld@xxxxxxxx]

Quoting "J. R. Fox" :

> cld@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > "He's So Fine", recorded by the Chiffons in 1962. Those were the
> days....
>
> Yes, but it wasn't lyrics, just a couple chords.

Not just the chords, but the melody as well.

> Given the stature and reputation of Harrison, this was certainly an unconscious
> accident, quite possibly a trivial and incidental one.

In his 1976 decision, Judge Richard Owen, of the federal district court in
Manhattan, agreed with you as to "unconscious", but not as to "accident", and
certainly not as to "trivial and incidental". He wrote:

"What happened? I conclude that the composer [Harrison, possibly assisted by
Billy Preston], in seeking musical materials to clothe his thoughts, was working
with various possibilities. As he tried this possibility and that, there came to
the surface of his mind a particular combination that pleased him as being one
he felt would be appealing to a prospective listener; in other words, that this
combination of sounds would work. Why? Because his subconscious knew it already
had worked in a song his conscious mind did not remember. Having arrived at this
pleasing combination of sounds, the recording was made, the lead sheet prepared
for copyright and the song became an enormous success. Did Harrison deliberately
use the music of He's So Fine? I do not believe he did so deliberately.
Nevertheless, it is clear that My Sweet Lord is the very same song as He's So
Fine with different words, and Harrison had access to He's So Fine. This is,
under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though
subconsciously accomplished."

By the way, the judge noted that the song was later recorded by the Belmonts
"with tongue in cheek", using the lyrics from both "My Sweet Lord" and
"He's So
Fine".

I digress, but this case has always fascinated me.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx
http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/


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