Hi, I just came across this video (keywords: Every Melody Has Been Copyrighted and they're all on this hard drive). I agree. If you write down numbers from 1 to 10,000, every combination of 5 digits is in 10,000. Maybe it is a good thing that two people with good intention did this (anyone came across this math theory could do it). If the opposite is true, basically they own every song from now on for maybe 150 years. Please let me know what you think. Thanks

It seems that great minds are thinking alike. Mike in the Off Topic also posted this a couple of days ago.

The videos are available in the below post.

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=580283

Two questions:
1) How many notes are required in order to qualify as a melody?
2) Shouldn't the producer be required to go through that database and cull out every melody currently under copyright?

If one of my melodies is on that hard drive, do I have the right to take them to court, make them remove it, and recall all units sold?

Interesting how the first thing the producers thought of after applying fabulous technology to a real world question was, "How do we exploit these findings for our own gain in power and money?"
Sounds like some Big Tech companies we have heard about. Sadly, the court will probably uphold this. The good news is, wait around a hundred years and they'll all go into public domain.

The title of this thread is totally incorrect. Nobody has copyrighted anything.

Ed, did you watch the video in the other thread? They put all these potential melodies online as open source. Free to use by anybody. Biab does basically the same thing right now in the Melodist, you put in any chords you want, pick a style and it will give you a different melody every time you hit Generate. And, anybody can copyright a Biab generated melody if they want. Or, at least try.

Bob

Of course I did not watch the video, Bob. Why would I? I did click the link to Mikes thread, the one with poster stating that claim. You don't really think citing Band in a Box or some computer program would get a defendant off the hook? I know from nuthin about copyright law, but can only assume there have been cases in which melodies were used without the composer knowing they had already been taken. That programmer might put his brilliance to good use working on preventing that prospect. IMHO.

I watched the TedX video. Interesting. I have my doubts though that even a computer program can take into account every small nuance a human voice can use to change a melody slightly or how every way a chord or note are played. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems the choices are endless.

I was thinking about this statement. Let’s just work on one octave using only quarter notes. The answer would be something like (2 to the power of 12 -1) or 2047 sure some would be dull now if you went to 3 octaves using only quarter notes it would be 2 to the power of 36 about 68,719,476,735.

Now let’s start adding other note lengths for each note length added double the number (or more) I’m not a mathematician but that is a rough calculation on covering every possibility as I say some would be repeating the same note over and over. Others would be jumping all over the place. But the total number of possibilities is let’s just say very high.

Then add different timings. Once you have them all done register each song. Nah, I don’t think it’s very practical even though I always feel what I do write sounds like something else but that is my lack of imagination.

My thoughts and don’t hold me to the accuracy of the calculation. Just work it out with 4 or so quarter notes.

Edit: Actually my premise is a little flawed because it does not allow for how many notes in the actual melody but the numbers would most likely become even larger. For example, my calculation of the one octave at quarter notes would only be 3 bars. With 3 octaves be 36 notes or nine bars at 4/4. So really there are a lot more possible combinations if you include the number of bars as a part of the calculation.

It is not all that simple.

Tony

This is why I'm planning to copyright a new chord progression I've invented. I call it C,D,G. I also invert it to G,D,C. I don't know why anyone has not played this before, it sounds great! I'll make hundreds off of this!

Well it seems that would be a pretty high number of copyrights. Hope they have deep pockets. First to write the check to the Library of Congress US Treasury, and second to pay the lawyers for all the copyright infringement lawsuits fixin to roll in.

I need to get my attorney started on this infringement lawsuit immediately. Maybe I can afford that tropical island and Lear Jet after all.

Yea, neither side should plan on any coin rolling in over this nonsense.

You're spot on about the outflow, though. At $35 per song on Form PA Published, the Copyright fees will certainly add up. If Form PA Unpublished, the days of unlimited songs per Form are long gone, too. Plenty of books around that explain the differences between Published and Unpublished rights — not gonna waste the keystrokes here.

Without going into detail, this gets into what I do in my music industry day gig. If the object was to give my colleagues a belly laugh, that goal was accomplished.

Otherwise, it seems that those behind the gimmick have forgotten that melodies incorporate rhythm, too.

If they think they'll accomplish anything other than providing amusement to the music industry, they are sadly mistaken.

Strange this has answered the question i was going to raise about the melodies created by biab..could i use them for writing a song with my own lyrics it looks as if I can unless someone on here says different