Similarity "Rocky Top" and Your the Reason God Made Oklahoma

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

Songs just off the top of my head:

Folsom Prison Blues
My Sweet Lord
Get Together
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Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

If it’s a genre of music that you don’t like, every damn song sounds the same
“you kids turn that crap down!”.
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first.

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

>>>>Q: How can you tell one Irish fiddle tune from another?
A: The title <<<<

Oh! i’ll be stealing that one 😎
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first.

Chris Templeton · From: The Green Mountain State

I was playing at some roadhouse in Kamloops, Canada and after the gig, Tanya Tucker's band (no steeler), who had played in town, was there, and I sat at their table and mentioned a song title I had thought of on my journey from Vermont: "Hanging, in, hanging Out and Hanging on".
Some weeks later, I was driving to Scotty's on I-40 and Tanya Tucker's new song, "Hangin' In", came on the radio. I was in shock.
When I got to Scotty's, I spoke with Ray Pennington and he said, "you can't copyright a song title", plus I hadn't written it down and had no documentation.
I like her song, though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43umspk_aM
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Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

Chris Templeton · From: The Green Mountain State

Double Post
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Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

I have a friend who became a lawyer after having to sue Stan Geitz who tried to steel writing credits to his band's songs. He found he liked the law, opened a law practice in a small college town to help those in real need, and has played with every local band for the last 50 years as the hired hand. He has had a great life it seems, so I guess he owes it all to Stan Geitz.
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Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

He had to sue Stan Geitz?
There is no “i” in sue. 😎
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I think the whole copyright thing has gotten pretty ridiculous now. Song rights for 95 years??? That’s insane; it sucks. It should have stayed the same as it was. You “own” it for 15 years, and after that, you can renew for another 15 years, and then it’s in the public domain, period! Muttering

You want more money? Write another damn song. Muttering

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

I think of it less like "making more money" and more like leaving something to your family. Those who work normal jobs can often provide an inheritance to their children and wives. Those who work in the "arts" have less opportunity to be able to provide any type of inheritance to their heirs. The purpose of the copyright in MHO is to allow artists to leave something behind to their heirs when otherwise they wouldn't be able to. Who SHOULD make that money: the artists family, or greedy corporations who will exploit that music to sell widgets?
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Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Good points, both Bill and Donny.

It got me thinking about the Charles Schwab commercial that used Born To Be Wild as the theme music. I’m pretty sure financial investment options weren’t Mars Bonfire’s inspiration for writing the song, but somebody agreed to allow Big Chuck to use it. Since monetary inheritance generated from song royalties has been mentioned, maybe the parallels aren’t such a stretch.

On the other hand, songs that are huge hits like that certainly generate enough income to retire on after a few years and leave some over for investment growth to leave behind for the future family (I looked it up - Mars still makes about $200k a year for Born To Be Wild). That makes 15 + 15 years sound reasonable. Public domain though? I have to disagree with that.

This is slipping a bit off topic, but what the heck. It’s interesting.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

In this particular case, it's pretty clear that the raw melody of the verse of God Made Oklahoma is virtually identical with fairly concurrent hit, Rocky Top. So the Bryants getting a piece of songwriter credit doesn't bother me in this case.

But I'm with Donny 1000% - copyright laws have gotten insane. I believe it started with extending copyright for Mickey Mouse, which I believe set a bad precedent. Everybody would be whining, big time, if patent law was anything like copyright law. Drugs and inventions patented for an exclusive monopoly for 70-something years after the inventor's death? Are you kidding me? Nobody would ever be able to afford any drugs if this is the way things worked. And nobody would ever be able to invent anything new. At a certain point, we need to dump the monopoly protection. I think 20 years is plenty for any intellectual property protection.

We had these discussion years and years ago, and things are actually worse than ever. IMO, there is very little truly 'original' music written in decades. Thank Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Carmichael, the Berlins, and so many others. Scientists say, "Standing on the shoulders of giants." That was the entire point of intellectual property laws - to encourage creation, not to stifle it. And that is what all this insanity has created. IMHO.

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

If copyright was 20 years, the copyright to Mickey Mouse would have ended in 1948. there would have been no Disney Land, Disney World, no Disney anything. Because if you don't own your own brand, why would anyone invest the time and money? Or protect it from underground comic style exploitation?

I think most are arguing from the point of view of the huge hits, and million dollar payouts. But I think those are the rare examples. The majority (just my guess, i have no data to back it up) of songwriting royalties going to families is of a much more humble income stream.

But beyond that, it gives them control over the image of their parent, during their lifetime. And gives them some sort of control over their legacy, music, image, and rights. 70 years would cover most lifetimes of a son or daughter and provide a small income from the creativity and sacrifice of their parents.

Very good conversation and I've nodded in agreement with both sides.
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

In Jazz, you often hear the same songs rewritten with new melodies or heads--they call these "contrafacts". I can name at least 50 tunes that are essentially "I Got Rhythm" or a dozen that are "All The Things You Are".
I think in the various wings of American/European folk and popular music culture, this is the practice, though much of that is unspoken. Just look at Rock and Roll or the Blues...I would even go out on a limb and say that 50-75% of all jazz compositions are reharmonizations of the blues form or rhythm changes.
So much of all the music we hear is essentially recycled.
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Don R Brown · From: Rochester, New York, USA

Are copyrights worldwide, or only in a given country? I often prowl YouTube checking out various foreign bands and have come across various songs which take heavily (but not exclusively) from songs we know here. And again, how similar is "too similar"?
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Craig Stock · From: Westfield, NJ USA

Everything old is new again, especially in modern music where they they take a classic old song and use it for their purposes.

I'm not against that it's just a way for the younger generation to hear and appreciate where it came from before.

Didn't someone once say that after a certain date that there was nothing new that couldn't be done that was already done?

I don't think so!
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I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.

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Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Even the argument “everything old is new again, after a given length of time” has been recycled from earlier posts in this thread, by people who probably honestly think they are contributing something new to the discussion. So, to assume that a “new original song” is most likely a self-cancelling phrase is not a great stretch of the imagination.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Half of the Bluegrass Banjo songs all sound like Cripple Creek with one chord changed or reversed.

I seriously doubt that the song was stolen with intent, I believe, like mentioned above, it was just a melody in the writers head that stuck. Especially because the bridge is not even remotley familiar to RT and is integral to bringing the song back to the verse. But, be that as it may, it was ruled "copied"

Great song though, when my wife and I fronted our band this was a regular on our set list ! Heavily requested ! Very Happy

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