Blog

Adding Resources to EMichaelMusic.com - My Digital Hoarding On Display

I have created the first version of a bibliography/collection of my favorite and/or essential resources entitled, "Music, Entertainment, Technology & Legal Resources." My definitions/stretches of meanings and category-creating allow me to squeeze "Business" and "Communication," significant and stand-alone-worthy fields, into "Technology." I hope that this listing of thousands of resources will be helpful to others as well.

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Cloud Branding Using Pinterest, Part 1

This post begins the story of my first encounter with Pinterest - how I went from being appalled and horrified at seeing an onslaught of photographs of shoes, weddings and handbags, to a neutral acceptance of Pinterest, to creating a board or two and then becoming a passionate Pinterest pinner, all in the span of an hour or so. I consider Pinterest to be one of the finest cloud services, repositories of knowledge and brander of brands.

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Thanksgiving 2013 & Music Expressing Thanks

I thought to celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving, I'd compile music with lyrics that express thanks in various ways. Music from these artists (arranged alphabetically):Louis Armstrong, J. S. Bach, Charles Ives, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Pat Metheny, Charles Mingus, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Sam & Dave, Hank Williams

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My Rotary Talk & The Confluence of Music, Technology, Business and Law

Because I was asked to speak at the ROTARY, I assumed the topic of business would be pertinent. And because I am a musician, I am well aware of how important business is. And because I am a musician, I know that technology is present in every second of expression, and musical expression. And because my life has taken me into copyright law, I've learned that copyright law is also present at every moment of expression - public expression.

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My friend Mulgrew Miller died today (May 29, 2013)

I always felt lucky to see and interact with him. As quickly as possible, I realized that this musical hero to me, who was now a colleague, was just such a great and modest guy. His charm was disarming as can be. I was comfortable with Mulgrew immediately.As I got to know Mulgrew better, I had to ask him - no, tell him - to stop calling me "Doctor" or "Professor." I told him that you are Mulgrew Miller and I call you Mulgrew. I should call you SIR. He laughed. He told me I deserved the titles and the respect.

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Copyrightable Introductions - Willie Nelson, The Roots, Oingo Boingo, Beach Boys, Desert Rose Band, Beatles

I want to go in the opposite direction from the last two posts - from introductions that are not very copyrightable to those that are very copyrightable. These are introductions that feature substantive musical expression, not the kind that is often associated with introductions. Again, these subjects - copyrightable intros and uncopyrightable intros - came up during this blogging process. I'm very glad they did as I now have more fun topics to explore.

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Love Street, A Century of Women on Top, TimeHop, Mikasa

Three years ago today I wrote -"With today's copyright laws, most great composers - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Ives, etc. - would be as criminal as Girl Talk, Negativland, the Evolution Control Committee or anyone who finds creative preexisting elements and uses them."I still agree. I'm even more fervent about that.

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Copyright From A - Z, Crime Before Thanksgiving, my 19th Annual Berklee Lecture, Inna & The Farlanders

At some points today, I'll select some topics for my two-hour presentation. I'll choose from these questions and issues and more:Can One Copy A Bass Line?Can One Copy A Chord Progression?Can One Copy A Guitar Solo?How To Break The Law/How To Get Away With Crime (Crime? "Fair Use" or The Perfect Crime ?)What Is Fair Use?Fair Use Done Right/WrongWhat Is Satire?What Is Parody?What Is Right of Publicity?Can One Sample?What Is A Mashup And When Are Mashups Legal/Illegal?

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How NOT To Write A Hit Song (Pt. 3/3), Ernő Rubik, Bob Dylan, Iannis Xenakis, Whitfield & Strong

Do you think the eleven (11) constructs/stipulations are good advice for a songwriter? For a composer? (What’s the difference between a songwriter and a composer? This is a question to be explored in future posts.)Could you write a a great piece of music following these eleven (11) points?If you wrote a song that followed these exact eleven (11) stipulations, would you be infringing copyright? That's an enormous question and one that could lead to debate, certainty, uncertainty, anxiety, anger or confusion. Of that, I am certain. If you'd like, please start off that discussion below. I promise I can add to whatever discussion begins. :-)I expect that an attorney in the future will ask me this specific question at a deposition. (Rather than answer this question now, I'll leave it in this post just to annoy an attorney or two. I have also inserted a few statements in previous posts to see if attorneys or their paralegals are paying attention. This includes a factual omission I'm almost certain they'll never catch - smile smile!)

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Baseball and Music - The Right Songs for the Right Season

I thought of calling this post, "15 Songs for the Soul." But that thought lasted for two seconds. Elvis Costello's great lyric from "Alison" came to mind, and rescued me: "I'm not going to get too sentimental like those other sticky Valentines."I also liked the title, "I see St. Peter wave ," but decided against that too. If you don't know, that is a short phrase from a song by They Might Be Giants. "I see St. Peter wave" then led me to the rest of the song which burrowed its way perfectly into this post. And I love the messages the songs below convey. They are perfectly suited for this day, don't you think?

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Angie Aparo v. Five For Fighting (Part 3 of 3)

PART 3 of 3We left off in this cliffhanger with the promise of an ending in this highly abbreviated fictionalized account of what could have been a copyright infringement action brought by Angie Aparo and affiliated parties against Five For Fighting and affiliated parties.Plaintiff: What country song features 1-2-3-5?Defendant: “Tomorrow Never Comes” by Ernest Tubb does. Conway Twitty’s “I’m Not Through Loving You Yet” also features 1-2-3-5.Plaintiff: What rock song features 1-2-3-5?Defendant: “I’ll Follow The Sun” by The Beatles.” The Beatles‘ “You Won’t See Me” also features 1-2-3-5

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