Tag: Led Zeppelin

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Transcript of OA369: Hummanist Invocations & LED ZEPPELIN

Listen to the episode and read the show notes

Topics of Discussion:

[Show Intro]

Thomas:         Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 369.  I am Thomas Smith, that’s Andrew Torrez.  How’re you doing, Andrew?

Andrew:         I am doing fantastic, Thomas, how are you?

Thomas:         Doing great!

Andrew:         Yeah, coronavirus free?

Thomas:         Yeah, nothing wrong.  I don’t have to worry about having a retirement account anymore.

Andrew:         [Laughs]  Yeah-

Thomas:         That’s a load off my mind!  [Laughs]  

Andrew:         We’re gonna work until we’re 200.

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OA369: Humanist Invocations & LED ZEPPELIN

Today’s episode features two deep dives: first, we have an interview with David Williamson of the Central Florida Freethought Community to discuss their successful (!) five-year lawsuit to permit humanist, atheist & non-clergy invocations before the Brevard County council meetings. Find out how this case developed and learn some strategies for successful grass-roots activism even in the age of Trump!

We also take one more deep dive into the amazing Spirit/Led Zeppelin lawsuit, this time taking a look at the recent en banc decision by the full 9th Circuit that reverses the earlier panel opinion (and is a win for Led Zep). The 9th Circuit has some interesting things to say about the “inverse ratio” rule that really brings out discussion from the past two weeks (see episodes 365 and 367). We know you’ll enjoy it!

After that, it’s time for the answer to #T3BE 170, which matched Thomas up against the dreaded REAL PROPERTY QUESTION. Can he slay the beast? Listen and find out!

Patreon Bonuses

If you’re a patron at any level, you can ask a coronavirus question to be answered on the next two episodes, and if you’re at the $2 level or above, we have an amazing new Law’d Awful Movies featuring the Larry Klayman/Roger Stone deposition that must be heard to be believed!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, event, or in front of your group, please drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Check out the Central Florida Freethought Community
  2. We first took a “Stairway to the Supreme Court (?)” back in Episode 236 and then did a follow-up in Episode 288. Of course, we also covered Riehl and Rubin’s project in Episode 365 (“Every Melody Ever, Part 1”) and interviewed Riehl and Rubin themselves in Episode 367.
  3. Finally, you can read the recent en banc decision by the full 9th Circuit for yourself.

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-Remember to check out our YouTube Channel  for Opening Arguments: The Briefs and other specials!

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!



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Transcript of OA367: Interview with the “All the Music” Creators!

Listen to the episode and read the show notes

Topics of Discussion:

[Show Intro]

Thomas:         Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 367.  I’m Thomas Smith, that’s P. Andrew Tortoise, how ya doin?

Andrew:         [Laughs] [Turtle Impression] Welll I’mmmm doin finnne Thommmas.

Thomas:         [Laughs]  

Andrew:         How are you?

Thomas:         Well, you know.

Andrew:         I do.

Thomas:         Doin’ okay.  [Laughs]  

Andrew:         I do.  But I’m excited about today’s episode!

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OA367: Interview with the “All the Music” Creators!

Today’s episode is a continuation of Part 1, in which we discuss Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin’s “All the Music” project and the history and future of music copyright. We’ve got a special treat for you in that Damien and Noah are both on the show to answer our (tough!) questions. You won’t want to miss this fun discussion!

We begin, however, with a listener question/comment about attending law school and balancing costs, risks, and budgets that many of our listeners will undoubtedly find timely.

Then it’s time to bring on Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin for a fascinating deep dive into the mechanics, the law, and the public policy behind their “All the Music” project. Where should our sympathies lie? What changes to copyright law would better benefit music creators? How do Riehl and Rubin see the fundamental issues in music copyright? You won’t want to miss this!

After the interview, it’s time for the answer to #T3BE 169 involving a tainted witness identification and the permissibility of eliciting testimony in court. Can Thomas start a new winning streak?? Listen and find out!

Appearances

Andrew was just a guest speaker at Houston OASIS, and we’ll be working to bring you the audio of his speech from that event. And if you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, event, or in front of your group, please drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Our basics on music and copyright were covered in Episode 236 and then with a follow-up in Episode 288. Of course, we also covered Riehl and Rubin’s project in Episode 365 (“Every Melody Ever, Part 1”).
  2. For (some of) the details on Riehl and Rubin’s project, check out Riehl’s fascinating TEDx talk.

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-Remember to check out our YouTube Channel  for Opening Arguments: The Briefs and other specials!

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!



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Transcript of OA365: Every Melody Ever, Part 1

Listen to the episode and read the show notes

Topics of Discussion:

[Show Intro]

Thomas:         Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 365!  Wow, that means you can start episode 1 on January 1st of the year and get to now. 

Andrew:         [Laughs]  

Thomas:         I dunno why you’d wanna do that, but you could and it would be a full year.  Anyway, how’re you doing, Andrew? 

Andrew:         Well, I’m looking up after that now that you can get Opening Arguments every day for an entire year.

Thomas:         Yeah.

Andrew:         That’s, um, I feel good!

Thomas:         We can even do – we can pause at like a quarter through this episode and it would be 365 and a fourth.  Perfect!

Andrew:         [Laughs]  

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OA365: Every Melody Ever, Part 1

Today’s episode brings you our first look at the efforts by Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin to copyright “every melody ever” as part of a way of reconceptualizing copyright law as it applies to music. SPOILER: We’re going to have Riehl and Rubin on the show to discuss their work in more depth. We also discuss Chevron deference and a recent dissent by Clarence Thomas that’s No Laughing Matter.

We begin with a deep dive into the Riehl and Rubin “Every Melody Ever” effort, which builds upon the music copyright episodes we’ve previously discussed in Episode 236 (“Stairway to the Supreme Court”) and Episode 288 (“More on Led Zeppelin”). What exactly are Riehl and Rubin doing, and will it put an end to copyright lawsuits against musicians? Listen and find out!

After that, we check out a case (Baldwin v. U.S.) in which the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari — and the dissent filed by Clarence Thomas. That prompted a headline that got some chuckles last week — “Clarence Thomas cites Thomas in overruling Thomas” — and we learn that (of course) this turns out to be no laughing matter, but part of a concerted effort to roll back not only a 2005 Clarence Thomas opinion, National Cable & Telecommunications Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Svcs., 545 U.S. 967 (2005), but Chevron deference itself. Find out why even the howler monkey contingent wanted to take a pass on this case — but not Clarence Thomas!

After all that, it’s time for the answer to perhaps the easiest #T3BE ever — or is it? (It is.) And remember, you can always play along with #T3BE by sharing out the show on social media!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Our basics on music and copyright were covered in Episode 236 and then with a follow-up in Episode 288.
  2. For (some of) the details on Riehl and Rubin’s project, you can read the write-up in Vice.
  3. Finally, you can check out Thomas’s cert dissent in Baldwin v. U.S. here.

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-Remember to check out our YouTube Channel  for Opening Arguments: The Briefs and other specials!

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!



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OA288: More Led Zeppelin! (& Legal Ethics with Amy Chua)

Today’s episode explains exactly what happened with the story you probably saw about how Led Zeppelin “got a new hearing” in their lawsuit with the estate of Randy California. What’s going on? Listen and find out! We also break down the latest ethical wrangling over Yale law professor Amy Chua and Brett Kavanaugh. Is it as bad as everyone says?

We begin with the tale of “Tiger Mom” Amy Chua, the Yale law professor who wrote a stirring defense of Brett Kavanaugh as a “mentor to women” after Kavanaugh had offered Chua’s daughter a plum clerkship. Did that pot get sweetened when Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court? (Hint: yes.) We break down all of the ethics & more in this segment.

Then, it’s time to revisit the lawsuit brought by the estate of Randy California against Led Zeppelin alleging that Led Zep stole the iconic riff for “Stairway to Heaven” from California’s band, Spirit. If you haven’t listened to Episode 236, go give that a listen right now, and then come back to find out what’s new.

Then, it’s time for another Andrew Was Wrong segment — this time, involving the actual penalty for refusing to answer or giving false answers on the Census.

After all that, it’s time for the answer to Thomas Takes the Bar Exam #130 about the constitutional propriety of collecting sales tax from a private individual who will then turn around and sell the objects to the state. Did Thomas get it right? There’s only one way to know for sure!

Appearances

None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Click here to read Chua’s original Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Kavanaugh Is A Mentor to Women.”
  2. After that broke, Elie Mystal criticized Chua in an Above the Law article, to which Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld tweeted that she “[w]on’t be applying to SCOTUS.” Mystal also teamed up with The Guardian to unearth more revelations regarding Chua, Kavanaugh, and how his clerks always “look like models.”
  3. Of course, it was Mystal who broke the news that Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld was chosen as a Kavanaugh SCOTUS clerk.
  4. We covered Zeppelin in Episode 236.
  5. The false answers statute is 13 U.S.C. § 221.

-Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!




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OA236: Stairway to… the Supreme Court??

Today’s deep-dive Tuesday tackles a long-running lawsuit by the estate of Randy California — the founder, lead singer, and guitarist for the band Spirit — alleging that Led Zeppelin stole the iconic riff for “Stairway to Heaven” from Spirit’s 1968 song “Taurus.”  With assistance from Thomas on guitar, we tackle all of the fun issues that are currently pending before the 9th Circuit… and possibly headed to the Supreme Court!

We begin, however, with two follow-up questions that got cut from Friday’s blockbuster show regarding the American Media, Inc. plea agreement:  (1) Could David Pecker still be indicted? and the big one:  (2) Can Donald Trump pardon a corporation?  The answer… may surprise you!

After that, it’s time for a deep dive into the law regarding musical copyright and an exploration of the similarities and differences between “Taurus” and “Stairway to Heaven.”  Where do Andrew and Thomas come out?  You’ll have to listen to find out!

After that, it’s time for the answer to Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #105 regarding a bank and a car dealership attempting to modify a contract.  As always, remember to follow our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Appearances

None!  If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. We discussed the AMI deal in Episode 235.
  2. You can check out Spirit’s “Taurus” by clicking here.
  3. Click here to read the original (and awesome!) Randy California v. Led Zeppelin complaint; you can also read (1) the jury verdict by the trial court; (2) the brief filed by Taurus in the 9th Circuit; (3) the opposition brief filed by Led Zeppelin; (4) the 9th Circuit’s ruling; (5) the petition for rehearing en banc filed by Led Zeppelin; (6) the opposition to that motion for rehearing en banc; and (7) the just-filed reply brief by Led Zeppelin (filed 12-10-08).  Phew!
  4. Finally, click here for a mashup of “My Sweet Lord” (George Harrison) and “He’s So Fine” (The Chiffons).

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

 

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