She skipped the light fandango

In the light of the Stairway to Heaven court case, I am contemplating how people can determine if something is plagiarism, or simply influenced... How many tunes can there be in the world? How many times can you organise 8 note ... It must be less than 14 million; how many songs are there in the world?

When i lectured; I prepared work sheets - examples of supply and demand and market influences - and handed them in for copying. I got a note to say could i come and see them; I then got a lecture from the copy department for making sheets without crediting the author; 'I'm the author'. I protested.

'But you must have copied it from someone'

'No, this is stuff I know'. I stressed, 'I learnt it when i got my degree'.

'No, This must be someone's work, you have to acknowledge copyright'

So i waited til they went home and copied it myself.


What do you think? Are the things you learn subject to copyright.... at what point do the things in your brain become yours and not the copyright of someone else.



And anyway did Adam Smith really know if Sally Gunnell's underarms influenced sales of hair remover?