It’s interesting how claimants in musical copyright cases often come out of the woodwork some time after the alleged infringement took place. In 2005, British band Procol Harum were successfully sued by their former organ player Matthew Fisher for 40% of the rights to their 1960s classic Whiter Shade of Pale (In 2008 a judge ruled Fisher too late to receive royalties). More recently, it’s been the turn of Aussie rockers Men at Work to answer to copyright’s long reaching grasp, all the way from the 1930s in this case. This week, Australian publishing group Larrikin Music successfully brought a claim for up to 60% of the income gained by the group from their 1983 hit Down Under, after a federal court in Sydney ruled them to have plagiarized a Girl Guides’ song, Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, written in 1934 by Marion Sinclair and sung by Guides ever since. Larrikin Music are now seeking seeking 40 to 60 per cent of earnings from Men at Work songwriters Ron Hay (who has strenuously denied any conscious wrongdoing) and Ron Strykert, as well as record labels Sony BMG and EMI. A cost hearing for the case is set for late February, and it may come as some relief to Men at Work that under Australian law the claimants will only be able to claim back royalties from the last six years, considering the additional costs associated with these sorts of cases.
The Archives
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Bits & Pieces
Dead Weather to Return With a New Record and a String of Spring Dates
02.03.10In a recent interview with Australian radio station triple j, Jack White announced that The Dead Weather are to release a new album and hit the road for a Spring tour culminating in a visit to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May. It’s been only seven months since the debut album Horehound from the band, whose other members include Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs), but clearly there’s no rest for the wicked with White stating in the course of the interview that the new record is “bluesier and heavier than we ever thought we could be”, and that he’ll perform the lead vocal on the forthcoming Dead Weather single, called Blue Blood Blues. (more…)
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Bits & Pieces
Heath Ledger Directed Music Video Surfaces
10.29.09Heath Ledger serenades us from beyond the grave as a new music video surfaces for longtime friend and Aussie rapper N’fa’s Cause An Effect. From directing an animated video for Modest Mouse, to this now circulating artistic hip hop clip, Ledger has left quite the pleasant kink in today’s audio quilt. “We shot it in Sydney… and he called me at this crazy hour, saying, ‘I’ve got this idea, let’s make a video!’” recalls N’fa in a ‘making of’ clip. “We found a few different ideas for clothing, a massive sheet and black curtain, and got in touch with two really good makeup artists… and shot it all in his garage. The idea was to keep it really artistic. Heath was basically running around directing the shots… it was a really cool day,” the Aussie rhymer explains. Above and beyond Ledger having directed the piece, it was also produced by his partly owned film and music company The Masses, boasting a debut at the 2009 International Rome Film Festival. “Every day I count my blessings that he directed this piece of art,” says N’fa. “It was a song I was proud to have written but I never expected to have such an immense video made for it. I’d known Heath since we were very young and he was always a creative kind of guy and, in many ways, ahead of the curve.” Alas, another talented man lost before his time.
