possible rip off of music? CLOSED - THANKS

[andygabrys]

hi Taxiers

its hard to hear, but is there resemblance in the music under these two spots? like more than would casually be allowable?

the original spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... HJhU#t=15s

the recut:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... YTaY#t=15s

and the newer spot that curiously has pretty similar music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... gUyQ#t=16s

thanks for the listens and thoughts in advance

[crazyhooks]

Hey Andy,

Here's what Im hearing they all have a simliiar motif with the Mandolin in the opening scenes in Italy
Then when it goes to American Kitchen scene, the arrangement changes
to a modern Kick /Tamb/ Belltree ending the scene
There are obvious "copied" Themes but no melody lifting I hear.

Is it something you pursuing ?

[andygabrys]

actually the only part I care about is the 2nd half where it changes. that piece is mine in the first one. in august 2011 it started running. then for some reason they stopped using that piece (although it was contracted for 2 years) and then started using the piece in the third example. Which I am guess since its in the same key, same tempo, pretty much the same arrangement and almost the same instrumentation means that whoever did the piece in the 3rd video had used my original as a guide (my piece was custom composed for the picture btw, it was not library music).

I am wondering if the melody is close enough (and I mean top note of voicing for the chords) and the ending flourish is close enough that it could be shown that it was lifted.

the difference is probably more than $5k in royalties. (I am not kidding on that figure - thats based on what I made already from BMI and the difference in number of plays between my original and the third one on Competitrack.com which is what BMI uses to calculate commercial royalties).

So its a fine point. its beneath dialogue. its sonic wallpaper, nobody really cares, and you can barely hear it. but I am still wondering.

[CabDriver]

I am not a lawyer but I am pretty certain that the costs of going to trial for copyright infringements only make it a worthwhile endeavor if there is a major hit involved. You would have to prove that the plagiarized work is substantially similar in melody and chord structure. The two examples that you have provided are mostly similar in musical style and instrumentation and if trained musicians find it hard to hear the resemble the court will have an even harder time.

[Kolstad]

The third piece were significantly different to my ears, Andy. But admittedly it is hard to hear underneath the dialogue.

A good example to judge upon could be the high profiled Coldplay-Satriani case: http://youtu.be/YJWLfpOecyE

This case was reportedly dismissed by the court. http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/ ... uit-220134

So even when two songs are THAT close, the case is dismissed. In that perspective, you may have a hard time building a case for this one. But what you have to do is to compare your sheet with the suspected violator's sheet like in the first video above, and do the theoretical analysis.

[CabDriver]

So even when two songs are THAT close, the case is dismissed.

Joe Satriani very likely received a substantial payment from Coldplay since both parties filed a notice to dismiss the case after it was settled out of court.

[pboss]

It's clear they were trying to get the similar or same 'sound'. But the only similarity I hear is in the feeling, the mandolin, the keys even, but the newer one has some minor in it, while yours is major. I hear different inherent 'melodies'. The newer one has more of a melody, the earlier one has more of a chord progression, and like you said, the top note is present as a melodic movement, but honestly, if this came down to the nitty gritty, they are ripping everything but the melody, so I don't think you can say it's legal infringement, since you're allowed to copy chords, keys, instrumentation. Now, if you were contracted for a period of time, and it ended prematurely, that's where I would pursue your position.