The ongoing discussion concerning similar songs jogged my memory about
a lawsuit a few years back.  I remember reading about the lawsuit but
I'm having trouble finding any written references to it.  Perhaps one
of our MMD'ers may remember something.

The suit was filed against Jerry Herman, the composer-lyricist of
"Hello Dolly!"  The owners of the rights to a little-known song called
"(She's my) Sunflower" from the 1930s-1940s, claimed that Herman copied
their song.  Although the two songs are in different keys, there is a
similarity only in the first five notes of the two songs.  The
remainders of the these songs are noticeably different.

With George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" versus "He's So Fine," even an
untrained listener can recognize numerous similarities throughout the
two songs.  But, that was not the case with "Hello Dolly!" versus
"Sunflower."  It was decided that Herman had _not_ copied "Sunflower."
The case is significant because the decision implies that just because
someone claims that a song was copied, it is not a foregone conclusion
that the court will agree.

I could not find any information on this case from searches of magazine
and journal article indexes, and on the Web, so if any of you remember
something about this case, please send it to the MMD.  However, the
searches did reveal other "copied song" cases and raised even more
questions.

A Web search for "Hello Dolly" uncovered some stories about the cloned
sheep named Dolly.  In several instances, writers used the phrase/song
title "Hello Dolly" to introduce their stories about cloning.  (It
appears that the writers themselves cloned that phrase).  Would the
deliberate use of these words in a story without reference to Herman's
song be a copyright violation?

There is also a well-known cookie recipe for "Hello Dollies" but I
doubt that Jerry Herman receives any residuals from bake sales, or that
anyone bothers to send him a percentage of the cookies each time a
batch is baked. ;-)

A literature search revealed a more serious side of the copyright
question.  The number of "stolen song" lawsuits has risen sharply in
recent years.  I didn't have time to check out each article written
about the issue, so, I have selected a few and listed them below for
those who wish to conduct further research.

"Estates' rights: legal and family watchdogs guard the legacy of
Broadway's great songwriters."  D. P. Stearns.  Opera News v58 pp 38-40
July 1993.

"The copyright license issue" [discussion of February 1991 article,
Whose rights?] M. Horosko.  Dance Magazine 66:8+ Feb.  1992.

"Getting rich slow" [federal court names H. Santiago and J. Merchant
authors of hit Why do fools fall in love?] People Weekly 36:68
Dec. 7, 1992.

"Isleys file suit vs. singer Michael Bolton for copyright
infringement."  Jet 82:55 July 13 1992.

"Michael Jackson's lawyer responds to charges of copyright
infringement."  Jet 82:60 May 11 1992.

"Stevie Wonder didn't steal song, appeals court rules."  Jet 82:27
Sept. 7 1992.

"[Stevie] Wonder cleared in recent song plagiarism lawsuit."
Jet 77:61 March 12, 1990.

"M.C. Hammer says he will pay Rick James for 'borrowed' song."
Jet 78:34 August 20, 1990.

"Reggae singer loses to Jagger in song theft case"
[P. Alley loses case] Jet 74:58 May 16, 1988.

Joyce Brite
Player Piano and Mechanical Music Exchange     * Buy - Sell - Trade *
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~brite/