Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of copyright infringement claims

[JoeP]

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr

Big Bang Theory producers sued over use of Soft Kitty nursery rhyme | Television & radio | The Guardian

I can't find either a general Big Bang Theory thread or a general IP fights thread so here's a new one.

I feel distressed and need to lie down. Somebody sing to me.

Soft Kitty Compilation - The Big Bang Theory...

[livius drusus]

I hope Chuck Lorre has to cough up ONE BILLION DOLLARS based solely on the fact that he's a talentless hack who has profited altogether too much from writing the shittiest jokes in the world.

[mickthinks]

Anne Frank's diary removed from Wikisource | BBC News

From the link

Anne Frank died in 1945, which suggests that her elements of the original Dutch language version of the diary is now copyright free. It is in fact in the public domain in some countries, including the UK.

But since it was compiled and edited by Anne's father Otto Frank, who omitted much of the content in her original manuscripts, some people argue that he created a new version of the text which should be protected by its own copyright. Otto Frank died in 1980, which would mean the copyright of the 1947 edition does not expire in many countries until 2050.

[mickthinks]

Lawyers seek to end We Shall Overcome copyright - BBC News

[mickthinks]

'Stairway to Heaven' suit: Jury to hear Led Zeppelin case - CNN.com

From the link

The lawsuit was brought by a trustee for the estate of the late Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California -- a songwriting member of the American rock group Spirit
... claims that the arpeggiated guitar introduction to "Stairway to Heaven" -- widely viewed as one of the all-time great classic rock songs since its release in 1971 -- infringed on the copyright of the instrumental "Taurus," released on Spirit's debut album three years earlier.

I call 'bullshit".

[Ensign Steve]

Waynes World ('92) - No stairway, denied - YouTube

[Nullifidian]

The J.S. Bach estate to file a lawsuit next, pointing out that an arpeggiated introduction is precisely what he composed in the very first piece in the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major (Youtube link).

In other words, you can't copyright arpeggios.

[Sock Puppet]

To be fair, the Mighty Zep have been accused of this for years by various critics. Here's a Cracked article about it from 6 years ago. According to the article, Randy himself never had a desire to sue.

I remember reading an interview with Pagey where he said he thought "Stairway" sounded closer to "Hit The Road Jack." That sounds even bullshittier to me, but who knows. IMHO, Zep's various ripoff sins are on a spectrum from outright theft, to incomplete attribution, to mere tribute. I don't really know where this one belongs.

[Janet]

The more I think about it the more it makes sense. There's a hit song that ripped off a bit of one of The Gories' songs. When I pointed it out to Mick he said he was going to give the guy hell the next time he saw him. But after thinking a bit he just shrugged it off with "talent borrows, genius steals." That doesn't mean his heirs won't decide they want the money, especially with judgements like the Blurred Lines one making it look like it's an easy pay day.

[JoeP]

This thread does not have copyright on "soft kitty" parodies.

Originally Posted by JoeP