Not only did the electronic telegraphy contribute significantly to the latter, so did also the phonogram. Whereas (i) is necessary to identify what a musical work is, (ii) explains how this work is involved in an exchange between sender and receiver. More specifically it is argued that the concept in question required (i) a theoretically elaborated concept of individual work form, and (ii) a particular figure of thought according to which acquaintance with the abstract individual work requires that it be communicated from composer to listener along a »communication chain«. It is argued that the particular understanding of music according to which individual musical works are created by composers and exist as abstract entities beyond time and space was not established until about a hundred years later, i.e. This well-established view about how music has been understood is here questioned. According to this understanding (still widely embraced today), individual musical works are created by composers and exist thereafter as abstract entities beyond time and space. This Article suggests that courts in interpreting infringement in music cases must look beyond the visual-textual and take better account of how music is actually perceived and practiced.Īccording to a well-established view among music historians and other scholars, in the western world a certain understanding of music was established around the year 1800. This emphasis on writings has disfavored some plaintiffs who have sought greater protection for their own performance practice, while at the same time disfavored some defendants whose creative, non-notated performance practice should allow a greater scope for their borrowing. Copyright law has, however, consistently undervalued the art of performance while favoring the written expression of music, which has had a profound impact on varied musical forms.

Since the earliest copyright laws, copyright subject matter has progressively expanded from granting rights to protect written expression to other artistic arenas. Copyright was first applied to words and was initially visual and textual in orientation. This misreading is a historical relic of the ways in which copyright has been applied to music. This leads to analysis in infringement cases that seriously misconstrues the history, uses, and functions of music notation.

Music copyright infringement cases do not appropriately take account of the nature of music notation as a set of instructions. A musical work is a set of instructions that typically consists of music notation, which includes notes, and in some instances, musical lyrics.

Screening The Blues by Paul Oliver