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giskardsb

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giskardsb

From an entertainment lawyer:

 

http://lawyerdrummer.com/resources/what-constitutes-songwriting-the-million-dollar-question-in-the-music-biz/

 

Gen­er­ally speak­ing, any sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tion to melody, lyrics, or struc­ture typ­i­cally counts as songwriting.

We gen­er­ally think of a song­writer with their gui­tar writ­ing the songs and strum­ming chords, and the melody com­ing from a com­bi­na­tion of those chords and the vocal. But a sig­na­ture gui­tar riff (like Keith’s famous lick in “Sat­is­fac­tion” or the riff in “Smoke on the Water”) might count as song­writ­ing. Or the bass line on Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”, or drum intro on their clas­sic “We Will Rock You”. It’s hard to imag­ine these songs with any other bass line or drum beat, and they form as much of the struc­ture and in fact melody of the songs as the gui­tar and vocals. A great exam­ple is the Pro­col Harum case, wherein organ­ist Matthew Fisher sued the band for past roy­al­ties due from their mas­sive 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, on which he played the main organ theme. Mr. Fisher was never given song­writ­ing on the song, and felt that his organ riff was a crit­i­cal part of the song’s struc­ture and melody. At trial, his con­tri­bu­tion to the song was deemed to be 40%, which amounted to mil­lions in retroac­tive roy­al­ties since 1967. Sadly for him, he lost it all on appeal, with the court declar­ing his delayed claim “exces­sive and inex­cus­able” (he had waited 38 years to make claim, as he knew it would be the end of his tenure in the group!).

How­ever — gen­er­ally speak­ing — adding a gui­tar solo or drum­beat or organ over an exist­ing song struc­ture (and not con­tribut­ing to the actual struc­ture or melody of the song) is not typ­i­cally con­sid­ered song­writ­ing. As you can see, what con­sti­tutes song­writ­ing is very much a ques­tion of degree. Let’s look at some real world exam­ples to pro­vide some clarity.

- See more at: http://lawyerdrummer.com/resources/what-constitutes-songwriting-the-million-dollar-question-in-the-music-biz/#sthash.EpTDy8cP.dpuf

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Bad Bromance
8 minutes ago, HEARTHUNTER said:

Talent always wins.

EtRGgn8.gif

Totally!!  A perfect time to use this flawless GIF, too!   :applause:

I don't care what you think about unless it is about me.
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andy232000
11 minutes ago, HEARTHUNTER said:

Talent always wins.

EtRGgn8.gif

Thank you Ryan Murphy for the new handful of useful gifts...these are priceless

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Dangerous Man

Like what I said, Gaga produced the song, alone meaning she re-arrange the structure of it, including putting up the melody so that alone proves she's part of the song writing. Poor haters.

"A little less conversation and a little more touch my body."
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Dangerous Man

It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film. The performers of a song are not credited with the Academy Award unless they contributed either to music, lyrics or both in their own right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Song

 

Meaning, even if that Linda gurl was right that Gaga didn't get involved in puttting up the lyrics, the Academy would still include Gaga to the nomination bc she obviously put a lot of input to the song especially for its melody.

Spoiler

Therefore, talent always wins at the end. :applause:

 

"A little less conversation and a little more touch my body."
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Didymus

Doesn't solve anything. Linda says Gaga's contribution wasn't significant enough, Diane says it is. So we're left with the same issue.

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