HW: OVER CALVERT's DEAD BODY!!!!!

[Paul Mather]

On Sun, 1 Dec 1996, Christian Mumford wrote:

> Maybe I was too subtle, maybe people are in denial of this - I don't know...
> I'm surprised nobody really picked up on my 'Biz Quiz' post! So - I'll just fire
> my guns here with my claims, hoping that somebody proves me wrong!!:
>
> Why is Dave Brock taking Bob Calvert songs in particular and slapping his own
> name on their credits? I'm referring to the aptly named Business Trip album.
> I presume Calvert's estate sees nothing of these royalties since the song
> credits have been altered to Brock and sometimes Davey & Chadwick as well. This
> disturbs me.  Sorry, Paul, I don't buy the 'blues tradition' argument here.
> What Brock (& co.) are doing smacks of greed and capitalism, and I'd go as far

Well, the "blues tradition" remark was kind of tongue in cheek in relation
to Dave, so I didn't expect you to take it too seriously.  (Should've put
a smiley or two in there.)

You refer to _The Business Trip_ album specifically.  Alas, this is one I
don't yet have, so I can't comment on how different the versions are from
the originals.  But, it may be sage to point out that this is a live album
and, it's my understanding, copyright functions slightly differently for
live recordings.  I was told once, in a class that included a little law,
that copyright for live performances resides with the first person to
"capture it on permanent medium."  Basically, with a concert, this would
be the person who taped it.  That's one reason why concert halls ban tapes
and cameras, so I understand.  It's also the reason why the USA release of
Zappa's _The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life_ came out with a
different cover, originally, to the UK one.  The UK release sported a
stage photo taken by a fan.  The fan was never tracked down, and the USA
legal folks got cold feet about including it without securing copyright
release from the fan, so it never appeared.

As I said, I don't know how different the versions are on _TBT_, having
not heard it.  But if they were improvisational pieces quite different to
their originals, there would be some merit in crediting the live
peformers.

I don't know.  Is there some place we could get a definitive answer
regarding this copyright/credit issue?

Also, do song credits refer to the lyrics or the music, or to both?

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at csgrad.cs.vt.edu                    A stranger in a strange land.