Can you own a bass line?

Here is a comparison of two songs with identical descending scales. The family of the writer of the Spirit song want some cash from Jimmy Page. Granted, they're similar, but imagine the can o' worms if anybody can claim ownership of a sequence of 5 notes?
 
This is actually old news, but I never heard the outcome of the lawsuit from last fall.
 

 

How ridiculous, there must be thousands of songs with descending chromatic bass lines like that. 
 
What's next, Britney Spears sued by Barbara Streisand for the chordal similarities between "Oops! I Did It Again" and "Woman In Love"? Go for it Babs! (or the Bee Gees, I'm not sure how this works )

That's going to be a decision to watch.  If, in fact, a copyright infringement is granted to the family of the Spirit member, it makes me wonder if you could copyright certain chord changes with descending bass lines like C, C/B, C/A, C/G, C/F which appear in songs like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Piano Man, America, American Tune, Whiter Shade of Pale and a zillion others.

jude77
That's going to be a decision to watch.  If, in fact, a copyright infringement is granted to the family of the Spirit member, it makes me wonder if you could copyright certain chord changes with descending bass lines like C, C/B, C/A, C/G, C/F which appear in songs like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Piano Man, America, American Tune, Whiter Shade of Pale and a zillion others.

I've wondered the same thing about that classic descending scale/chord structure. Maybe it's only copyrightable by the first person to use it, who would have lived in a century well before the 20th so for all intents and purposes it's in the public domain.

What is actually covered by copyright?
Top line melody and lyrics; isn't it?
I guess IF the bass line IS the melody its covered?
Too much is a stake, in the case of Estate of R. California vs Led Zeppelin, to settle out of court?
Not near as "cut and dried" as Page/Plant's "fair use" of many Dixon, Johnson, et al. lyrics...
 
T

I think the USA should be renamed as lawyerland. There are more legal practitioners per capita there than any place on the planet. Everyone sues everyone eventually. It's a twisted version of 6 degrees of separation. 

that chromatic descending line is pretty much melodic jazz 101, with the tonic, maj7, etc, etc...  Ends you on that groovy minor 6 chord

michaelhanson
I think Bapu owns Am.

The beauty is that I'm the only juan who can play that note. It's a mystery to all others.

"From Bob Dylan to Steve Jobs, he says our most celebrated creators borrow, steal and transform"
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
Someone famous said that; didn't he?
 
t

bapu

bitflipper
Here I always thought Smoke on the Water was just Proud Mary in reverse.

And here I thought "Space Oddity" was just "Space Truckin'" slowed down.

You two guys a riot . I would definitely like to hang out with the both of you someday 
 
Kenny

kennywtelejazz

bapu

bitflipper
Here I always thought Smoke on the Water was just Proud Mary in reverse.

And here I thought "Space Oddity" was just "Space Truckin'" slowed down.

You two guys a riot . I would definitely like to hang out with the both of you someday 
 
Kenny

Rumor has it we will both be in the same room next week. You're welcome to come on down and join us for a bacon sandwich. Hey, we'd only need a drummer to form a band!

I'd like to own one...

Would this be considered a bass line? 

it's notation ,regardless of the octave being low.. or not chords etc.
 
It's hard NOT to copy something, did it 2 times in the past.. once with a massive attack tune and other was blue monday by new order.. subconsciously I did it. only so many notes and all that
 
was listening to a certain new ELO song (when I was a boy).. reminds me a LOT of a few other songs.. again it starts as one song, then hits into something also memorable from years ago in the middle.
 
I guess it's the extent to how much something is done.. and if it's on a major label.. don't worry money talks and people can get paid off.. know an example of it with an old song here (someone down the road) and a US artist... they worried they might take legal action and paid em off for £10k.. which is peanuts to what the person using it made and now realised he should have held out for 2 or 3 times that amount.
 
but the kicker is.. say "bit" wants to lift a 10 second sample out of one of my works.. if it's a major he's signed to , to fight it I'd have to go to the states. they are happy to tie up the small man in legal knots with unlimited funds
 
things don't just vanish.. out of court with the proviso it's not in the media / known.
 
a friend from denmark had his c64 sid chip (from a demo) stuff lifted for a UK song.. the person in the UK used to record in the complex I used to go.. so hinted, it would be in his interest to resolve it as the original "artist" as such was very aware of his work being lifted. I was happy to represent him in the UK, was sorted out in the end. joke was,  he'd have given usage for free IF he had been asked in the first place, as long as he had a credit.
 
another fav of mine is if you google "timbaland do it"   .. I knew the original ages before..