While countless music videos are being taken off YouTube for copyright, a judge has ruled What Pi Sounds Like is here to stay. Picture: YouTube Source: Supplied
- Musician eats humble pi after failing in copyright lawsuit
- Two musicians both wrote music based on maths constant
- Judge ruled that "Facts cannot be protected by copyright"
A US composer is eating �humble pi� after a judge ruled he could not copyright the famous mathematical constant for a piece of music.
Lars Erickson, the owner of the copyright for his own 1992 Pi Symphony, was suing fellow musician Michael Blake for alleged breaches contained in last year?s YouTube sensation What Pi Sounds Like.
Erickson tried to have Blake sign a contract agreeing to pay him 9 cents for every sale of his song on iTunes.
Both pieces of music were based on the endless sequence of numbers most of us learn in geometry but US district judge Michael H. Simon ruled that ?facts cannot be protected by copyright?.
?Pi is a non-copyrightable fact, and the transcription of pi to music is a non-copyrightable idea,? Judge Simon stated in his ruling.
The judge ruled Erickson could not claim copyright because assigning numbers to notes could only be expressed in a finite number of ways.
The only grounds on which Erickson stood a chance were if the ?rhythm, harmony, scale and embellishments? in Blake?s What Pi Sounds Like were ?substantially similar,? to those in Pi Symphony.
You decide. Scroll down to compare the two pieces of music.
?Pi Symphony and What Pi Sounds Like employ different rhythms, different phrasings, different harmonies and different tempos,? Judge Simon ruled.
?But what is original about that expression... is not virtually identical or even particularly similar to What Pi Sounds Like.?
The judge also stated that most of Erickson?s grievances were based on the perception that his years of hard work promoting Pi Symphony were undermined by Blake?s sudden popularity when he hit YouTube.
?Copyright protects against the copying of original elements of an author?s work. It does not protect the copyright holder?s good will, market status or artistic success,? Judge Simon stated.
Blake told news.com.au he was pleased by the judge's ruling but he was not surprised.
"I have been fairly confident of my legal position from the beginning," he said.
"Hopefully it will prevent any more similar meritless lawsuits from occurring again."
With the trial behind him Blake is planning to release his next maths video based on the value of Phi, in time for Phi day on June 18.
Even though the judge ruled against him, Erickson urged people to draw their own conclusions by watching his video and Blake's video and comparing them.
"I wrote Pi Symphony 20 years ago, I am thrilled to have presented it first," Erickson told CNN.
"It was my gift to the world, no strings attached. Life goes on."
An explanation and performance of the Pi Symphony, written by Lars Erikson. Video: YouTube / PiSymph
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