Episode 132: The Soul of Music

What is music? With IP scholar Joe Fishman, we talk about music to work by, whether being unable to imagine doing anything else is a sign you’re doing the right thing, and, mostly, what in music should be protected by copyright. Is the essence of music just melody? And should copyright aim at any such essence? How does our choice about legal protection affect the kind of music people make - and should we worry about that? Why am I asking so many questions? Will these show notes ever end?

This show’s links:

Joseph Fishman’s faculty profile and writing

Joseph Fishman, Music as a Matter of Law

About Alban Berg (unsurprising that Joe takes a strident and wrong position against both Christian and guest Joe (writing the show notes has fringe benefits))

Lisa Bernstein, Opting out of the Legal System: Extralegal Contractual Relations in the Diamond Industry

Justice Nelson’s opinions: Hotchkiss v. Greenwood and Jollie v. Jacques

About “rhythm changes” in jazz

Joseph Miller, Hoisting Originality

Andres Guadamuz, Is It Time to Examine the Concept of Originality in Musical Works? (discussing cases like the “Blurred Lines” case, Williams v. Gaye (now before the Ninth Circuit), as illuminated by Emma Steel, Original Sin: Reconciling Originality in Copyright with Music as an Evolutionary Art Form (unavailable thanks to copyright law))

Song Exploder (and the episode on the Moonlight soundtrack)

Special Guest: Joseph Fishman.