03rd Oct 2002
John Cage Owns Copyright to Silence?
Hilarious piece in the New Yorker about British composer Mike Batt, who included a one-minute piece of silence on his new debut album Classical Graffiti (not yet released in the U.S.) as a tribute to John Cage’s famous silent work from 1952 titled 4′ 33″. Incredibly, the music publishing company that now owns the rights to Cage’s compositions is suing Batt for copyright infringement.
They are claiming a copyright on silence. Extraordinary. So, when a radio station has a couple of minutes of dead air, it has to pay royalties? Is it fair use to not hum? What if a tree falls in a forest and doesn’t make any noise, is it in violation of copyright infringement?
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