Livo Posted July 5, 2002 Loose Ends: Did John Cage Invent Silence? Music copyright infringement can be a fairly tricky thing. Some cases, like the fiasco over the similarity between Huey Lewis' "I Want A New Drug" and the Ghostbusters theme, are reasonable. Others are a little more iffy. For instance, can anyone own a copyright on the sound of silence? According to the estate of late avant-garde composer John Cage, yes. Cage, as you may remember, perplexed an audience decades ago with a "composition" called "4'33," which featured him sitting in front of a piano, in complete silence, for exactly four minutes and 33 seconds. Now, a classical composer by the name of Mike Batt has put a track called "One Minute's Silence" (which is exactly that) on an album by his protegees, The Planets. According to the British newspaper, The Independent, John Cage's people have served him with a legal document, claiming copyright infringement. http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2002/07/0404.cfm All I can say is :/ 0 Share this post Link to post
AndrewB Posted July 5, 2002 Rahhyahyahyahyahya. Rrr-r-r-rrahyahyahyahya.. That's funny. 0 Share this post Link to post
darknation Posted July 5, 2002 I should copyright loud non-stop gibberish and sue all the people who force me to listen to them talk. 0 Share this post Link to post
Davidoom Posted July 5, 2002 That is pretty messed up. I wonder if rain is copyrighted... 0 Share this post Link to post
Da_Esco² Posted July 5, 2002 Aight ya'll............... now I'm fuckin scared! Dat shit is fucked up on so many levels! O_O 0 Share this post Link to post
Amaster Posted July 5, 2002 Davidoom said:I wonder if rain is copyrighted... Yes, by me. You all owe me big time. 0 Share this post Link to post
Naked Snake Posted July 5, 2002 How the hell can you copyright silence? 0 Share this post Link to post
stphrz Posted July 5, 2002 bigbadgangsta said:How the hell can you copyright silence? Leave it to BBG to ask the questions the rest of us are afraid to... =) 0 Share this post Link to post
Naked Snake Posted July 5, 2002 stphrz said:Leave it to BBG to ask the questions the rest of us are afraid to... =) Yeah, I ask all sorts of offensive questions (this one wasn't). I remeber I met this girl my brother liked so I had to stop myself from asking her if she swallowed, until they broke up and became friends ;) 0 Share this post Link to post
Sharessa Posted July 5, 2002 OMG...now they have to sue Trent Reznor 91 times. 0 Share this post Link to post
Little Faith Posted July 5, 2002 The John Cage Society fails it. According to what I have been thought John Cage's "masterwork" 4,33 is not just silence. It is in fact a thoroughly composed piece of music, albeit one that only consists of rests. If the "infringing" work does include the same thematic elements as 4,33 even though it is also only made up of rests they might not have a case at all. Anyway the whole idea is stupid. I'm not particularily fond of John Cage. The only thing I dig about him is that he was a fellow mushroom collector in his spare time. His concert for four radios is funny though. 0 Share this post Link to post
VileSlay Posted July 5, 2002 meh, thats retarded. what next. I copyright nose hairs and fart sounds? I say the letter a and copyright it? ugh. I'm an artist and am all for copyright laws, but thats just ridiculous. 0 Share this post Link to post
Doom II Guy Posted July 5, 2002 John Cage = idiot Who wants to listen to someone do nothing?!?! He's stupid enough to do it...but he's even dumber to try to copyright it. 0 Share this post Link to post
fodders Posted July 5, 2002 bigbadgangsta said:How the hell can you copyright silence? Quietly 0 Share this post Link to post
Doom II Guy Posted July 5, 2002 the_Danarchist said:You just don't get it, do you? If this was directed to me...you're right I don't get it. I am a musician myself, and believe me that is NOT music. 0 Share this post Link to post
Davidoom Posted July 5, 2002 ...mingling over the topic: silence is copyrighted... 0 Share this post Link to post
Amaster Posted July 5, 2002 Doom II Guy said:John Cage = idiot Who wants to listen to someone do nothing?!?! He's stupid enough to do it...but he's even dumber to try to copyright it. Actually, IIRC, he didnt do nothing. He sat and played a piano that had no strings. Thus he was technically doing something. Also, I dont think this was ever aired on a radio or anything, it was only at concerts (correct me if I'm wrong). I myself dont get it though, but i'm not a musician so I cant really say much. 0 Share this post Link to post
Da_Esco² Posted July 5, 2002 This thread is just another perfect fuckin example of how fux0red the usual legal system really is! It's amazin how many peeps use the US' laws against the government every year, and get away with some outrageous shit because of it. Da whole idea of silence being copyrighted is just freakin' ludicrous. 0 Share this post Link to post
Sharessa Posted July 6, 2002 I wonder if they are going to sue Einstürzende Neubauten for making 'Silence is Sexy'. It has music, but it's like half pauses. Heh...this is just stupid. 0 Share this post Link to post
Psyonisis Posted July 6, 2002 I want to copyright the letter 'e' and whenever anyone uses it, they owe me 1 cent for their infringement. 0 Share this post Link to post
Doom II Guy Posted July 6, 2002 Great, I've never used the letter 'E' before 0 Share this post Link to post
Linguica Posted July 6, 2002 WHat's Johnny Cage doing outside Mortal Kombat? 0 Share this post Link to post
darknation Posted July 6, 2002 They took him out of mortal Kombat for being gay. Now he just annoys people in real life. 0 Share this post Link to post
HateFactor Posted July 6, 2002 OMG...now they have to sue Trent Reznor 91 times. heh yeah, marilyn manson too (on AS) 0 Share this post Link to post
Sharessa Posted July 6, 2002 Linguica said:WHat's Johnny Cage doing outside Mortal Kombat? I was thinking the same thing. 0 Share this post Link to post
Wobbo Posted July 6, 2002 copyright suck, they dont work for anybody but large corporations. the same goes for patent owners... "protecting the little guy" my ass 0 Share this post Link to post