Of Kookaburras and Men (at Work): Copyright Infringement in Musical Works Revisited

35 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2015

See all articles by Craig Dickson

Craig Dickson

University of Melbourne, Law School

Date Written: June 16, 2015

Abstract

The untimely death of Men at Work instrumentalist, Greg Ham in April 2012 appeared to provide a tragic coda to the long running copyright infringement litigation between music publishers, Larrikin Music and band members Colin Hay and Ronald Strykert and their record company, EMI. The resolution of Larrikin Music’s claim has not however, stilled the debate over the appropriate boundary of copyright protection in the context of musical works. Rather, it has re-ignited a wide ranging debate over the proper use of copyright protection in the musical realm in the face of technological advancements and increasingly creative uses of musical phrases in other works, particularly those that employ digital sampling techniques, in mash ups and for creative remixing in both a live, DJ environment and in recording studios.

Those discussions highlight the troubling implications for composers and musicians in the fallout from the Larrikin decisions. More fundamentally perhaps, the substance of the determinations in the litigation saga raise a number of questions on issues that are crucial to a musical copyright infringement enquiry – what does “original” mean in respect of a musical work?; what is the appropriate procedure for determining infringement in respect of musical works?; and what comparisons are relevant to a consistent understanding of substantial similarity in the musical context?

Keywords: Kookaburra, Men at Work, musical works, copyright, infringement, Larrikin Music, EMI

JEL Classification: K11, K39, K41

Suggested Citation

Dickson, Craig, Of Kookaburras and Men (at Work): Copyright Infringement in Musical Works Revisited (June 16, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2618945 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2618945

Craig Dickson (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne, Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
180
Abstract Views
708
Rank
303,407
PlumX Metrics