Feedback - Revision history

Projects at 15:27, 30 January 2008

2008-01-30T15:27:57Z

86.129.121.105 at 14:26, 28 August 2006

2006-08-28T14:26:00Z

86.129.121.105 at 13:33, 28 August 2006

2006-08-28T13:33:34Z

Projects at 10:56, 31 July 2006

2006-07-31T10:56:27Z

Projects at 09:05, 31 July 2006

2006-07-31T09:05:28Z

86.143.86.99 at 23:17, 30 July 2006

2006-07-30T23:17:53Z

86.143.86.99 at 23:16, 30 July 2006

2006-07-30T23:16:25Z

86.143.86.99 at 23:14, 30 July 2006

2006-07-30T23:14:20Z

86.143.86.99 at 23:14, 30 July 2006

2006-07-30T23:14:03Z

86.143.86.99 at 23:13, 30 July 2006

2006-07-30T23:13:48Z

New page

The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive will contribute to this issue.

[http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]

== Ain’t that dirt? ==

{|cellpadding="20"
|- valign="top"
|

''"You see, nobody wrote the Livery Stable Blues. Naw. Nobody writes any of that stuff. . . We was in the Schiller café, rehearsin’, see? And I suggests that we take the More Power Blues and hash ‘em up a bit. My friend, Ray Lopez he wrote the More Power Blues. All blues is alike . . .'' 
''We hashed up the More Power Blues and put in the pony cry and the mule cry and the horse neigh, see? Then we rehearsed it for ten days, steaming it up and getting it brown and snappy. Then we had the piece all fixed. . .'' 
''I'm entitled to the authorship of the Livery Stable Blues, me and Lopez, as much as LaRocca, that’s why I went to Roger Graham and had him publish it. LaRocca done me dirt, so I say to myself, 'He’s done me dirt and I’ll let him out.' He goes and has our Livery Stable Blues put on a phonograph record as his'n. Well ain't that dirt?"'' 
'''Alicide “Yellow” Nuñez testifying in court, October 1917'''

|}

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s Livery Stable Blues, the first jazz record ever pressed, was the subject of an extended court battle over the composition’s authorship. A mistake made by the Victor Talking Machine Company on its release meant that the tune was published and registered for copyright under a different title: Barnyard Blues. This discrepancy meant that the hit record was unprotected under copyright law.

Former ODJB clarinettist, Alcide “Yellow” Nuñez, who had been thrown out of the band over a disagreement with band leader Nick LaRocca, saw this as his opportunity to claim rights over the composition and seek revenge for his dismissal. He took the song to music publisher Roger Graham and copyrighted it under the original name of Livery Stable Blues.

In October 1917 LaRocca took Nuñez to court for plagiarism and the case was heard in the US Federal Court, Northern District of Illinois. It lasted ten days and became big news in the press as both parties gave elaborate testimony in order to prove their rights over the composition. Finally the judge ruled that the tune was based on numerous others – notably More Power Blues – and therefore it was not possible to name a single individual as the author. The case was subsequently thrown out of court:

{|cellpadding="20"
|- valign="top"
|

''". . neither Mr LaRocca and his associates nor Mr Nuñez and his associates conceived the idea of this melody. . . no human being could determine where that aria came from that they now claim was produced at the Schiller café for the first time . . . Whatever was produced by the rhythm was the result that pleased the patrons of the place, and it was the variation of the original music that accomplished the result and not the original music itself."'' 
'''Federal Judge George A. Carpenter, October 1917'''

|}

The irreconcilable dispute between the two parties over the authorship of Livery Stable Blues serves to highlight that a creative work is not the product of a single author but is generated as a result of a collaborative process within a network of individuals. Livery Stable Blues, like all creative works, is the result of a collaboration between individuals spread out in time; collectively built by the contributions of a huge array of musicians and enthusiasts, tweaking, changing, and building upon what came before. Moreover, as Judge Carpenter suggests in his summing up of the case, the tune was developed and tested in public at the Schilller café with the feedback of the crowd helping to determine its melody and rhythm. LaRocca and Nuñez’s highly questionable claims of ownership, brings to light the exploitation of melodies and rhythms collaboratively developed by (mainly black) musicians who would never profit from the music’s global success.

The conflicts between the collective nature of creative labour and the impulse to lock works down by claiming authorship, played out in the Livery Stable Blues case, continues to haunt creative production. Today, copyright automatically locks every creative work to an apparent author – denying legal reuse by future producers. In an increasingly networked world, where ideas are easier to share than ever before, property rights over knowledge and creativity have become a highly contested area.

Free/Libre and Open Source software models offer a chance to break with the past, allowing and encouraging ideas to be developed and tested in public spaces – as in the Schiller café – with the participation of all. Licenses, based on sharing, openness, and collaboration, limit the power of copyright – allowing the free use and reuse of creative works for future creative exchange, enriching rather than depleting the public domain.

== References ==

La Rocca, D. J. '''Barnyard Blues''' (New York : Leo. Feist, 1917) 
Lopez, Ray & Nunez, Alcide '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Chicago : Roger Graham, 1917) 
Original Dixieland Jazz Band '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Victor 18255, 1917) 
H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960) 
Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)

←Older revision		Revision as of 15:27, 30 January 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	~~The next issue of~~ Feedback ~~will focus~~ on participatory projects. ~~Open Music Archive will contribute~~ to this issue. [http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]	+	Feedback #4 focuses on participatory projects. We contributed to this issue. [http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]

	== Ain’t that dirt? ==		== Ain’t that dirt? ==

←Older revision		Revision as of 14:26, 28 August 2006
Line 56:		Line 56:
	*H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>		*H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>
	*Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)		*Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)
−
−	~~[[Category:Future Projects]]~~

←Older revision		Revision as of 13:33, 28 August 2006
Line 56:		Line 56:
	*H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>		*H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>
	*Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)		*Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)
		+
		+	[[Category:Future Projects]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == Ain’t that dirt? ==
 {|cellpadding="20"
@@ Line 38: / Line 51: @@
 == References ==
-La Rocca, D. J. '''Barnyard Blues''' (New York : Leo. Feist, 1917)<br>
+*La Rocca, D. J. '''Barnyard Blues''' (New York : Leo. Feist, 1917)<br>
-Lopez, Ray & Nunez, Alcide '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Chicago : Roger Graham, 1917)<br>
+*Lopez, Ray & Nunez, Alcide '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Chicago : Roger Graham, 1917)<br>
-Original Dixieland Jazz Band '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Victor 18255, 1917)<br>
+*Original Dixieland Jazz Band '''Livery Stable Blues''' (Victor 18255, 1917)<br>
-H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>
+*H.O Brunn '''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''' (Louisiana State University Press, 1960)<br>
-Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)
+*Gillis, Frank '''Biography of a Jazz Tune''' in Jazz Journal (June 1963)

←Older revision		Revision as of 23:17, 30 July 2006
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive will contribute to this issue [http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]	+	The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive will contribute to this issue. [http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]

	== Ain’t that dirt? ==		== Ain’t that dirt? ==

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 |}
-The Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s Livery Stable Blues, the first jazz record ever pressed, was the subject of an extended court battle over the composition’s authorship. A mistake made by the Victor Talking Machine Company on its release meant that the tune was published and registered for copyright under a different title: Barnyard Blues. This discrepancy meant that the hit record was unprotected under copyright law.
+The Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s Livery Stable Blues, the first jazz record ever pressed, was the subject of an extended court battle over authorship of the composition. A mistake made by the Victor Talking Machine Company on its release meant that the tune was published and registered for copyright under a different title: Barnyard Blues. This discrepancy meant that the hit record was unprotected under copyright law.
 Former ODJB clarinettist, Alcide “Yellow” Nuñez, who had been thrown out of the band over a disagreement with band leader Nick LaRocca, saw this as his opportunity to claim rights over the composition and seek revenge for his dismissal. He took the song to music publisher Roger Graham and copyrighted it under the original name of Livery Stable Blues.
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 |}
-The irreconcilable dispute between the two parties over the authorship of Livery Stable Blues serves to highlight that a creative work is not the product of a single author but is generated as a result of a collaborative process within a network of individuals. Livery Stable Blues, like all creative works, is the result of a collaboration between individuals spread out in time; collectively built by the contributions of a huge array of musicians and enthusiasts, tweaking, changing, and building upon what came before.  Moreover, as Judge Carpenter suggests in his summing up of the case, the tune was developed and tested in public at the Schilller café with the feedback of the crowd helping to determine its melody and rhythm. LaRocca and Nuñez’s highly questionable claims of ownership, brings to light the exploitation of melodies and rhythms collaboratively developed by (mainly black) musicians who would never profit from the music’s global success.
+The irreconcilable dispute between the two parties over the authorship of Livery Stable Blues serves to highlight that a creative work is not the product of a single author but is generated as a result of a collaborative process between a network of individuals. Livery Stable Blues, like all creative works, is the result of a collaboration between individuals spread out in time; collectively built by the contributions of a huge array of musicians and enthusiasts, tweaking, changing, and building upon what came before.  Moreover, as Judge Carpenter suggests in his summing up of the case, the tune was developed and tested in public at the Schilller café with the feedback of the crowd helping to determine its melody and rhythm. LaRocca and Nuñez’s highly questionable claims of ownership, brings to light the exploitation of melodies and rhythms collaboratively developed by (mainly black) musicians who would never profit from the music’s global success.
 The conflicts between the collective nature of creative labour and the impulse to lock works down by claiming authorship, played out in the Livery Stable Blues case, continues to haunt creative production. Today, copyright automatically locks every creative work to an apparent author – denying legal reuse by future producers. In an increasingly networked world, where ideas are easier to share than ever before, property rights over knowledge and creativity have become a highly contested area.
-Free/Libre and Open Source software models offer a chance to break with the past, allowing and encouraging ideas to be developed and tested in public spaces – as in the Schiller café – with the participation of all. Licenses, based on sharing, openness, and collaboration, limit the power of copyright – allowing the free use and reuse of creative works for future creative exchange, enriching rather than depleting the public domain.
+Free/Libre and Open Source software models offer a chance to break with the past, they allow and encourage ideas to be developed and tested in public spaces – like the Schiller café – with the participation of all. Licenses, based on sharing, openness, and collaboration, limit the power of copyright – allowing the free use and reuse of creative works for future creative exchange, enriching rather than depleting the public domain.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ''We hashed up the More Power Blues and put in the pony cry and the mule cry and the horse neigh, see? Then we rehearsed it for ten days, steaming it up and getting it brown and snappy. Then we had the piece all fixed. . .'' <br>
 ''I'm entitled to the authorship of the Livery Stable Blues, me and Lopez, as much as LaRocca, that’s why I went to Roger Graham and had him publish it. LaRocca done me dirt, so I say to myself, 'He’s done me dirt and I’ll let him out.' He goes and has our Livery Stable Blues put on a phonograph record as his'n. Well ain't that dirt?"''<br>
-'''Alicide “Yellow” Nuñez testifying in court, October 1917'''
+'''Alcide “Yellow” Nuñez testifying in court, October 1917'''
 |}

←Older revision		Revision as of 23:14, 30 July 2006
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive will contribute to this issue.[http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]	+	The next issue of Feedback will focus on participatory projects. Open Music Archive will contribute to this issue [http://www.whitechapel.org/content.php?page_id=321 More information on Feedback]

	== Ain’t that dirt? ==		== Ain’t that dirt? ==