Judge Rules Pi-Based Music Is Non-Copyrightable 183
New submitter AnalogDiehard writes "A copyright case alleging infringement of a 1992 Lars Erickson song 'The Pi Symphony' by Michael John Blake's 'What Pi Sounds Like' was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon. Both pieces were conceived by assigning numbers to musical notes, then deriving a melody based on the pattern defined by a finite set of numbers in Pi. Judge Simon wrote in his legal opinion, intentionally announced on Pi day (3/14), that 'Pi is a non-copyrightable fact.' While the Judge did not invalidate the Erickson copyright, he ruled that 'Mr. Erickson may not use his copyright to stop others from employing this particular pattern of musical notes.' The judge further ruled that the two pieces were not sufficiently similar — for instance, its harmonies, structure and cadence are all different."
Copyright infringement? (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Bye, bye, copyrighted Pi (Score:5, Funny)
A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That number used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those lawyers dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But March 14th made me shiver
With every digit I'd deliver
Bad news in the courtroom
I couldn't take one more suit
I can't remember if I cried
When I read the judges opines
But something touched me deep inside
The day the copyright died.
Bye, bye to copyrighted Pi
Drove my Chevy to the courthouse where the lawyers would fight
But them good ole boys were thinking common sense was all right
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Re:Copyright infringement? (Score:2, Funny)
The entire dispute was completely irrational!
I wish 'i' had thought of that.
Re:Now... (Score:5, Funny)
>> this severely listing ship....
Arrrr, and a pirate ship she be, me hearties!
Re:Patents (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Copyright infringement? (Score:5, Funny)
The entire dispute was completely irrational!
I wish 'i' had thought of that.
I'm sure there are complex reasons you didn't.
Re:Patents (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah but the French do everything backwards. Their word for "states" is "etats".
Re:PI song (Score:5, Funny)
Pi is for losers. Music based on Euler's number, now those are symphonies. Oh, and if I catch one of you pirating thieves trying to steal my Euler tune, I'm gonna get all kinds of ACTA on your asses.
Re:PI song (Score:5, Funny)
*blames lack of coffee for inability to resist bad pun