It was reported in the papers today that Mike Batt had to pay a reported £100,000 out of court settlement for having a one minute silence on his album Classical Graffiti.

It was paid to the relatives of John Cage, famous for his piece 4'33", which consists of a pianist sitting down for four minutes and thirty three seconds and doing nothing. They sued that the concept of a performance that constituted silence was already copyrighted.

It looks like the out of court settlement was paid up so Batt would not have to spend millions on lawyers, even if he won.

So don't leave too many pauses in your compositions, maybe if they are too long you might end up sued!

This story is not a wind-up!

By the way, the funniest comment on the original piece of 4'33" was by Andre Previn who asked the composer "What do you do if the pianist doesn't show up?"

Oh my God that's absolutely stupid... How in the hell can you copyright silence....??? I could understand if his moment of silence was as long as the original artist, but damn just one minute.. So what now.., everytime a musician pauses to have a moment of silence we gotta pay out for it.. What the hell is this world coming too...???? We are a sad species folks....

Squeak

OOoPPpSss....
and I who did'nt say anything for about an hour.
I probably cannot find enough money to pay the
bill....
GJ

Quite a 'pause' for thought. I guess "Silence is Golden" for sure, at least in the case of John Cage's family.

The Sound Of Silence...

C'mon you guys shut up in here, can't you hear we're trying to do some recording.....Shhhhhh. Geeze, the silence is deafening.
Terry

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 09-24-2002).]

There were a few english comedy/singer/entertainers who used that concept 30 or more years ago.
If I were family from these old long past away artists I would sue the family of John Cage immediately .

They should be ashamed

Whew ... Thank God, I'm never silent that long !Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......Yada yada, yada ......

UD,
ROFLMAO
Terry

Because the composer credited Cage on his CD he sort of asked for it. If there hadn't been a credit then this wouldn't have happened. If you use silence don't say you borrowed it from Cage.