Klarinet Archive - Posting 000308.txt from 2000/07

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Original scores for festival judges.
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 11:08:48 -0400

At 07:34 AM 07/07/2000 -0500, you wrote:
[SNIP]
>.......... Rural's
>selection of listings -- subscribers' names, towns, and telephone numbers
>-- could not be more obvious and lacks the modicum of creativity necessary
>to transform mere selection into copyrightable expression. . . .Moreover,
>there is nothing remotely creative about arranging names alphabetically in
>a white pages directory. It is an age-old practice, firmly rooted in
>tradition and so commonplace that it has come to be expected as a matter of
>course."

Oliver's post of the exact wording is quite helpful. I selected just the
part that was most interesting to me - that of a "codicum of creativity
necessary to transform mere selection into copyrightable expression....."
It seems that interpretation of this specific opinion is more open and
flexible than was formerly presented in Mark's posting of the attorney
opinions. While those attorneys may have a strong position with regard to
copyrighted material for public domain music, a lawsuit alleging copyright
violation might very well stand up against the argument that PD material
cannot be copyrightable in the US......especially if it can be proven that
the material has been creatively expressed as to be assignable to a person
rather than to the original composer. Then again......it would be a
difficult argument either way.

As a published "editor" and "arranger", this has been particularly
interesting to me.

Sincerely,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director, Symphonic Winds
Advisor, IWU Recording Services
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
(309) 556-3268

A Clarinetist's Revenge is sometimes personified by the following excerpt
from the London Daily News, circa 1926:

"The saxophone is a long metal instrument bent at both ends. It is alleged
to be musical. As regards markings, the creature has a series of tiny taps
stuck upon it, apparently at random. These taps are very sensitive: when
touched they cause the instrument to utter miserable sounds suggesting
untold agony. Sometimes it bursts into tears. At either end there is a
hole. People, sometimes for no reason at all, blow down the small end of
the saxophone which then shrieks and moans."

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