As the Recording Industry Association of America continues to scare Internet downloaders into using programs like iTunes or buying albums at a store, a related, yet older debate over intellectual property is still occurring between musicians, authors, painters, directors, and other artists and their respective corporate counterparts (publishers, agents, etc.). At the helm of this debate is Jonathan Lethem, author of renowned novels Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude. In the February issue of Harpers, Lethem published an article titled "The Ecstasy of Influence," in which he challenged the way traditional copyright law works, arguing that it stifles creation. And so, he is freely distributing the film rights to his latest novel, You Don't Love Me Yet, which is about the lives of four indie-rock musicians. According to his Web site, any filmmaker is eligible to propose an offer until May 15, after which, Lethem will make a decision. There are two agreements to the deal, however: Lethem receives 2 percent of the film's budget after it gets a distribution deal, and the rights to the novel must return to the public domain five years after the film's release. The latter is to allow other artists to explore his work in the future; in his article, he notes that the traditional one-time book-to-movie deal eliminates other interpretations of the original work.
I recently learned of a Web site, http://pyzeppelin.free.fr/, that exposes Led Zeppelin's alleged "theft" of various songs. When I showed it to some of my friends, they immediately were dismayed, but after thinking about it, it's not that big of a deal (for the most part). First, many of the songs the site mentions were blue standards that many other artists had/have covered. Second, many people knew they were covering them at the time; these standards were much more popular then. And, with this musical freedom, Led Zeppelin produced beautiful interpretations of these works - for instance, consider "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," which was recorded by Joan Baez in 1962 and released by Led Zeppelin in 1969. Perhaps an even better comparison is that between "Stairway to Heaven" and "Taurus," a song by the band Spirit (Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit in 1968). Randy California, co-leader of Spirit, allegedly viewed Page's tune as a "reworking" of his original. Though it's somewhat disappointing that Spirit was never credited, Page completely ripping off Jake Holmes' "Dazed and Confused" is much more disappointing. Holmes opened for The Yardbirds in 1967 and Page's version was released by Led Zeppelin in 1969. Holmes never sued, but wrote a letter, to which he received no reply.
Unlike the previous, The Verve got into a bit of legal trouble because of "Bittersweet Symphony," which contains a sample of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra's recording of The Rolling Stones' "The Last Time." They had gotten the rights to the song, but apparently had used too much of the sample.
So, yes, Lethem's idea could have both positive and negative effects. In the end, credit should be given when it's due, but it also shouldn't stifle creation.
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