[NTLK] Newton song

[NewtonTalk]

> I sing

Excellent! More!

> ?I love you Newton, oh yes I do?? ? to the tune of ?We Love You Conrad?

Well, that's exactly the problem. Everything that's "to the tune of"
something is, in all likeliness, infringing copyrights left and right.
Before Noah's film appeared, I was trying to make a Newton song for it based
on the text Avi wrote when the Newton was axed. The text is an expertly
changed version of the lyrics of Don McLean's American Pie, and the melody
is the identical. Back at the time I tried getting info on who holds the
copyright for this song. But artists do not handle their copyrights
themselves. They put it in the trusted hands of huge companies like GEMA.
Those companies will happily answer your questions after you have become a
member, which will set you back a couple of thousands of bucks each year.
Otherwise they will simply ignore you. Not a single one of those fellows has
acknowledged any of the many mails I sent, let alone answered it. So I'm
still at the beginning. I don't even know who to ask if I want to use
something that's copyright-protected. That's why I chickened out back then.

For what it's worth, a proof of concept is still here. Please don't tell
anybody...

<https://www.pda-soft.de/scratch/newtonsong/ProofOfConcept.mp3>

This could have become really good if we had mixed in instrumental or
singing tracks provided by other list members. But I have a family to feed,
and I don't want to spend my bottom dollar on lawyers.

That's why for such a project we need something that's completely new.
Neither the lyrics nor the tune may contain anything that's easily
recognizable since it's from an existing song. Not even one or two bars. At
least not in Germany. In a nutshell: We need a song of which WE hold the
copyright. From start to finish. And still, I'm not going the one who
publishes it...

Frank

-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de