Every organization is responsible for addressing notices of alleged copyright, among other intellectual property rights infringements. In Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs Music, the issue was whether the defendant, Gorge Harrison, plagiarized the song ‘My Sweet Lord’ (“George Harrison v. Bright Tunes”, n. d.). Harrison was listed to have copied his song from a previously successful one, “He’s So Fine,” by the complaining author, Ronald Mack, contrary to copyright policy (Bosher, 2019). “He’s So Fine” was recorded by Chiffons, and the plaintiff, Bright Tunes Music Corp., owned their copyright. Even though the defendant’s witnesses noted the significant differences in the two songs stemming from words and syllables, modest modifications in the beginning phrases and repetitions were required.
Moreover, the court’s conclusion noted that the defendant had multiple possibilities of seeking musical materials. In such a process, Harrison possibly developed combinations that could please his potential listener through ‘My Sweet Lord.’ Additionally, Harrison’s subconscious mind knew the musical blend would be a success since it previously succeeded in another song that he could not retrieve consciously. For such reasons, the court was not convinced Harrison plagiarized the song intentionally but discovered that ‘My Sweet Lord’ was similar to ‘He’s So Fine’ worded differently. Therefore, it was a copyright infringement despite being achieved subconsciously.
Overall, the court found the defendant, George Harrison, liable for copyright infringement in Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs Music, becoming a commonly referred to as the dispute of music plagiarism. Apologetically, the court determined that Harrison unconsciously misappropriated identical harmonies of ‘He’s So Fine.’ Though facts established by the defendant’s witnesses could depict the notes’ differences, both songs had the same melodic motive. The ultimate determination of Harrison’s misappropriation and unconscious copying was guided by his decision to hire an educated musician to develop his banal musical ideas.
References
Bosher, H. (2019). Online copyright infringement by storage and transient copying. In Law, Technology and Cognition (1st ed, pp. 86-120). Routledge.
George Harrison v. Bright Tunes. (n. d.). Music Copyright Infringement Resource. Web.