In my music classes, I love to sing an old Australian folk song called Kookaburra:
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he
Laugh Kookaburra Laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be
It’s a nice melody and a beautiful round and I had never known who the original writer was until yesterday. Marion Sinclair wrote the song in 1932 and died in 1988, with publishing rights currently held by Larrkin Publishers, who just won a lawsuit against the band Men at Work claiming copyright infringement for a flute solo on their classic 80’s tune “Down Under”. Millions in back royalties are owed. This is a typically pathetic money grab by people who had absolutely nothing to do with the composition of either of those songs. Should I be worried that I have performed that song hundreds of times in my classes without paying a dime in royalties? Music is not owned by any one entity, but by anyone who enjoys it. It is not a commodity like any other because it can be infinitely reproduced, both orally and digitally, without any additional cost whatsoever. It is truly shared among people and serves a crucial purpose in our cultural bond. Music is fundamentally free and priceless and its liberty must be protected by the people against any attempts to restrict our access.