RIAA filing new suits against illegal downloaders: "Foofee" Mozart target

[Snow]

Mozart disputes that he did anything wrong. Father Leopold Mozart commented, "Boys will be boys, especially if they're musical geniuses".

News clip:
"Young Foofee(as his friends know him), age 14, went to the Sistine Chapel to hear the Allegri Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. After having heard it, he asked to see the score and was denied permission. He then to a second performance, and sat "as if in a trance" and returned to write out the piece from memory...making only two mistakes, which in fact turned out to be mistakes that the singers had made in the performance."

Maestro Allegri was not immediately available for comment.

[onebigbadwulf]

1. Satire gets me all gushy inside

I'm getting ferklempt!

[stopbush]

2. Actually, this situation wouldn't fall under the jurisdiction of the

RIAA. This is a mechanical copyright issue, not a sound recording issue.

But the bottom line is that Allegri's composition had (at least by today's copyright standards which are enforced by ASCAP and The Harry Fox Agency) lapsed into public domain by the time Herr Wolfie did his little music dictation feat.

So, no foul so no harm.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. In a related story, the organization's lawyers

are looking into allegations that one Johann Sebastian Bach of Kothen, in the German States, has just "written" and published a composition entitled "Concerto for Four Harpsichords in A Minor" that is the exact same composition as the recently released "Concerto for Four Violins in B Minor" that was penned by Antonio Vivaldi of Venice.

[Snow]

4. A harried-looking Bach, raking fingers through his hair,

responded, "What am I supposed to do? I change the key, change the instruments. It's almost the end of the week; another piece is due. The wife's about to have another baby - that's 14, now! Do you know how expensive it gets with that big a family? And what's the wife doing? Scribbling stuff in some little notebook! Think that's ever going to be of any use? Ha! Besides, where does Fr. Vivaldi get his stuff anyway? And writing all that stuff for orphan girls to perform? You believe that, I gotta bridge to sell you!"