[LINK] "Men at work" up a gum tree

[Craig Sanders]

On Thu, Feb 04, 2010 at 11:10:39PM +1100, Kim Holburn wrote:
> There's an interesting readers comment here (can't vouch for it but it  
> would make the whole thing even more ridiculous:
> 
> http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/comments/0,23836,26676562-952,00.html

the wikipedia article on Kookaburra also mentions that the tune is from
the Welsh folskong:

     The tune is taken from the Welsh folk song "A Ei Di'r 'Deryn Du" or
     Dacw ti yn eistedd, y 'deryn du" (English translation "There you
     are, black bird."). The syllables and themes are almost identical
     in to those in "Kookaburra".

so, K is derivative of the folk song both in music and in theme.

> > The Kookaburra Song uses the music from a Welsh Folksong "Wele ti'n
> > eistedd aderyn du?" or "Dacw ti yn eistedd, y 'deryn du" (Rough
> > English translation "See you there, that black bird sitting? and
> > is older than the Kookaburra Song..Men at Work obviously used the
> > Welsh tune just as Marion Sinclair did ....and therefore have not
> > infringed Copyright.

more to the point, if Kookaburra used the music from a traditional Welsh
folksong, then how can the Larrikin own the copyright to the music when
the tune is used without the K. lyrics?

in other words, while the combination of the tune and the Kookaburra
lyrics are copyrighted[1], the tune itself is public domain and use of it
is not and can not be copyright infringement.



[1] personally, i think even that's a dubious contention given the
simplicity, brevity, and the extremely derivative nature of the song.
but that's a separate argument.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>