Plagerism of "IF i could read your mind" in UK

[barbarabarrett]

Is there any way to let GL or his lawyers know that the music for "If I could Read Your Mind" is being plagerised as background music in UK TV advertisements? The first few bars are repeated over and over, but it is definitly his tune being used.

So far I've heard it used as background music in an ad for Which? magazine, an employmnet angency, and most recently by SkyBSky advert for forthcoming shows.

Barbara

[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by barbarabarrett

Is there any way to let GL or his lawyers know that the music for "If I could Read Your Mind" is being plagerised as Barbara

Is it as you typed or the more usual original that usually goes by the acronym
IYCRMM???
Can you or somebody else over there record some or at least one of the offending jingles so we can decide how to approach Gord bearing in mind that the one person who would have really jumped on this infringement of Gord's intellectual property rights recently and very sadly passed away

[talbot10]

Originally Posted by barbarabarrett

Is there any way to let GL or his lawyers know that the music for "If I could Read Your Mind" is being plagerised as background music in UK TV advertisements? The first few bars are repeated over and over, but it is definitly his tune being used.

So far I've heard it used as background music in an ad for Which? magazine, an employmnet angency, and most recently by SkyBSky advert for forthcoming shows.

Barbara

Hi Barbara.
There is no reason to just autmatically assume that Gord and/or his publishing company were plagerized here. These folks may very well have licensed this use properly. There are many ways to use others compositions legally (ex. mechanical licenses for inclusion in an album for CD sales, digital distribution licenses). There are also other elements of the whole process such as the recoupment for artists by such performance societies as BMI and ASCAP). In the modern world things such as ringtones and streaming also are being worked out worldwide for proper licensing. I would not assume this was done improperly. I would bet there is a better chance these folks went through the right channels.
Bill

I agree with Bill on this one. Most likely there has been a use agreement. This might include a flat fee arrangement or a payment according to how many times the commercial airs.

However, copyright infringement is common so I wouldn't totally discount the possibility. If so, each time the commercial is played -constitutes a violation.

If these 2 bars are music are exact to Gord's is one thing. If they're not exact, but similar...then it would have to be similar "enough" to consider it to be infringement. Being that it is recognizable, I would think that it would be similar "enough". But that would be up to a court to decide. But often, these issues are settled outside of the courtroom.

[Shutup and Deal, I'm Losin']

Whitney Houston wrote a song that had an almost identical tune to IYCRMM. It was called "Greatest Love Of All". I heard it at the gym one day a while back and I said "Dang, that sure sounds a lot like Gord's song".

[Paul Farnham]

"Greatest Love Of All" was composed by Michael Masser. It was recorded by both Houston and George Benson. In 1987 Gord actually filed suit against Masser. My source (Wikipedia) does not indicate whether or how the suit was settled.

[vlmagee]

Out of court, while the trial was ongoing. Needless-to-say, perhaps, details of the settlement were never disclosed. Personally, I suspect that the borrowing was inadvertant, but there are an awful lot of bars and the similarly is striking. A note by note comparison shows only a few small differences. And

[Paul Farnham]

Hi Val! I agree with your suspicion that the similarity was most likely inadvertent. Gord may have suspected as much as well. According to the Wikipedia entry, his primary impetus in filing the suit was to demonstrate the he hadn't plagiarized Masser.