Bringing Swirly Music to Life: Why Copyright Law Should Adopt Patent Law Standards for Joint Authorship of Sound Engineers

Authors

Andrew NietesFollow

Abstract

Geoff Emerick, acclaimed sound engineer for The Beatles, passed away in October of 2018. Emerick helped shape The Beatles’ sound and worked to create many of their most recognized songs, yet, under the current joint authorship standards he likely would not be considered an author of these songs. This Note details the work carried out by sound engineers in the music industry and describes how current joint authorship standards affect them. It then proposes a reinterpretation of joint authorship in the copyright statute to ease these standards by borrowing from another area of intellectual property law.

Recommended Citation

Andrew Nietes, Bringing Swirly Music to Life: Why Copyright Law Should Adopt Patent Law Standards for Joint Authorship of Sound Engineers, 29 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 1321 (2019).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol29/iss4/7