Posted on

In Phoenix Before The Dust Storm, the Birthday of EMichaelMusic.com & John Lennon & Listen to Moses

file0001723565139

One year ago today (October 9, 2012), I wrote my first blog post on emichaelmusic.com. I knew October 9 was John Lennon’s birthday and thought that my new effort should coincide with a day that had meaning to me.  All things John Lennon have always been important to me.  I would not have become a musician if not for The Beatles and Lennon was my favorite Beatle.  (If you were alive in 1964 when The Beatles invaded my continent, you had a favorite Beatle.)

________________________________________________________

I did something similar back when I was a graduate student at the University of Miami.  I needed to set a deadline to finish my orchestral composition that would be at the center of my master’s thesis.  I thought that the summer would be the best to time to complete a project this large, thought about what are my favorite dates, and then chose July 2, the date in which Thomas Jefferson finished writing the Declaration of Independence .  So, on July 2, I successfully pulled off something as responsible, mature and adult-ish as completing a large project on time that loomed many months ahead.  And as an extra bonus and most importantly, I loved the music I had written.  My orchestral master’s thesis is entitled:

C H E M I C A L      F O L K L O R E

Someday I might write about it here, but not today.

________________________________________________________

Today I am in Phoenix, Arizona to speak to NARIP about my work in music copyright/IP, publishing and advertising, and to spout and rant too.  My 3-hour interactive lecture to NARIP will take place on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at Paradise Valley Community College.  I’ve been referring this college as Paradise.  I like to abbreviate names sometimes especially when the abbreviated name seems appropriate – this area is really beautiful!

I’ll also discuss digital issues and possibly the fair and essential use of sampling as well.  By essential use of sampling, I am referring to situations when one MUST sample without permission in order to create a PARODY.  (Is Essential Sampling a good phrase?  Should it be Requisite Sampling?  Compulsory Sampling?  Sampling Because You Must?)  That First Amendment thing is important and should trump other given rights at times.

I’ll leave this topic now.  Near the end of my last talk at Harvard Law School on April 15, 2013, I first brought up this YOU MUST SAMPLE TO PARODY (in these specific examples) idea.  It was risky to talk this way then and there and maybe more so today.  But also, in three hours of interactivity today – interactivity is not the same as hyperactivity – this issue does not have to come up.  I’ll ponder another time or two between now and 2  PM and decide about this FORCED/ENFORCED sampling notion.

________________________________________________________

There is a “BLOWING DUST ADVISORY for GREATER PHOENIX AREA, AZ” today and tomorrow here in Phoenix – blowing winds, reduced vision, warnings that cars must pull over, stop and hope for the best.  People shouldn’t breathe or be outside….  And I’ll be wearing my best black suit!  Yikes – this is not Gloucester MA or Nashville TN.  I am in a real desert – the Sonoran Desert – in the real, wild American West.

________________________________________________________

And the best news for last – The BOSTON RED SOX won the ALDS last night beating Tampa 3 games to 1.  We were the worst team in baseball last year.  This year, objectively speaking, we are the best!  It was preordained.

“Listen to Moses!”

 ________________________________________________________

Posted on

Laugh, Wince & Wonder Why – Eduard Khil, Eric Idle, Barbara Boxer & Paula Abdul

file000368995578

I couldn’t bring myself to do one of those thoughtful, retrospective, introspective pieces about what took place in 2012  –  who died and the value of what they left behind, etc.  I like to read, view and hear those introspective, retrospective thoughtful year-end pieces but didn’t want to write my own. I thought, instead, to quickly find five (5) of my saved YouTube videos to view today, only one of which would be apropos to 2012.  The five (5) of these as a totality epitomize my day thus far.

The cloudy sky of the cover is as vague and indefinite as my December 31, 2012 and view of 2012.  The colors of the photo do not seem real  –  the place, time of season and day also seem as untrue and uncertain.

As for the following five (5) videos  –  they make me laugh, wince and wonder why.  I hope you’ll like them too and try to make them comport to your New Year’s Eve’s desire(s).  Only the first video, featuring Eduard Khil, is appropriate as a reminder of people who died in 2012 and left behind a legacy.  In the large list of great people who died this year  –

George McGovern, Daniel Inouye, Dave Brubeck, Ravi Shankar, Adam Yauch, Etta James, Robin Gibb, Jack Klugman, Andy Griffith, Sally Ride, Nora Ephron, Phyllis Diller and more  –

I never saw the name of Eduard Khil.  That is one of the reasons I had to include Mr. Khil here.  And as we like to say in Cambridge, “Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой.”

Now, to the uplifting audio and visual.

*          *          *          *          *

This is the famous Eduard Khil performance which became one of the greatest Internet memes in 2009.  He seemed so happy by the success of this video  –  to me, Eduard and the video were quite heartwarming:

Eduard Khil  –  “I Am Glad, ‘Cause I’m Finally Returning Back Home”

This might be the story of Sonseed.  This is one of those famous-for-the-wrong-reason bands and memes.  Get down with your bad white-boy authentic reggae Christian self:

Sonseed  –  Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine

One can never get enough of The Rutles, a great, pre-Spinal Tap rockumentary.  I love the issues of parody, satire and copyright infringement that float throughout “The Rutles.”  The witticisms get even better when one studies the entire film and especially the cameo appearances in the film by particular Beatles, Rolling Stones and others:

The Rutles  –  I Must Be In Love

Barbara Boxer is deadly serious in this video. Paula Abdul is not.  Congratulations to the creator of this mashup:

Barbara Boxer & Paula Abdul duet  –  How About A Lot Of You Coming In?

“Always looks on the bright side of life.”  This is one of the most renowned happy endings to a mass crucifixion:

Eric Idle  –  Bright Side Of Life

*          *          *          *          *

Just the audio and visual:

Eduard Khil  –  “I Am Glad, ‘Cause I’m Finally Returning Back Home”

Sonseed  –  Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine

The Rutles  –  I Must Be In Love

Barbara Boxer & Paula Abdul duet  –  How About A Lot Of You Coming In?

Eric Idle  –  Bright Side Of Life

*          *          *          *          *

Wishing you a great 2013!

Posted on

Harvard Law School Lecture – December 5, 2012

 

I will be speaking at The Harvard University Law School today between noon and 1:15 PM in Wasserstein Hall 3036.  The subject will be my work in, and take on, music copyright, intellectual property, tech and entertainment issues.  This is a great honor and I am very happy to have been invited.

(If you haven’t been to campus, there is a magnificent statue of John Harvard.  It has always looked like this, except for a few hours in 1996 when MIT students dressed him up to look like the Unabomber.)

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

This blog post will also double as my notes or at least a guide to the order of subjects.  I’ll be able to see this post on a monitor or my iPhone while my iPad plays the music.  I’ll also bring a DVD or two, unless I choose to access the same material on the Very Wide World Spider Web.

Videos I will use:

Excerpt from film, “BASEketball”  –  Joe Cooper says the name, “Steve Perry, Steve Perry!”  He then sings the opening line  –  “And I should’ve been gone”  –  from Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie.”  Did this need to be licensed?

And Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”  In 2004, Greg & Evan Spiridellis created a video parody of Jib Jab – Woody Guthrie.  Their docile, innocent not-for-profit two-minute video went viral becoming the first Internet mega-hit and drew the wrath of a publisher.  I was involved in the defense of this.  I might talk about it  –  maybe give my take on whether this is a parody, satire, parodic satire, satiric parody, or some of more of those words, as well as other issues that arose.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

As of now, my first Harvard Law set list will cover:

Tracks 1 – 7   Infringement?  Not Infringement?

Tracks 8  –  16   Parody?  Not a Parody?

Tracks 17  –  27   Mashups

Tracks 28  –  36   Sampling

Tracks 37  –  48   Advertising, Right of Publicity, Copyright

Tracks 49  –  74   Evidence/Exhibits I will use

Tracks 75  –  78   Licensing issues

Tracks 79  –  80   Co-Writing/Joint Works

Tracks 81  –  96   Originality, Copyright Myths

Tracks 97  –  118   Big Publishing Mistake

This is not firm and these examples vary in length from 2 seconds to 120 seconds.  I might jump around (I’ll resist the urge for a Jump Around link as it is too predictable).

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Most significantly and solemnly to me, my Dad, Edward F. Harrington, died on December 5, 1991.  This day is always very important to me.  I was the luckiest person to be his son.