Why All Melodies Should Be Free for Musicians to Use | Damien Riehl | TED

翻译人员: Joeyinn Shoo 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

I'm going to tell you a true story,

我想给大家讲一个真实的故事，

但是先不说故事主角的名字。

but instead of the name of the protagonist,

想想你最喜欢的艺术家，

think about your favorite artist.

Think about your favorite musician,

最喜欢的音乐人，

and think about your favorite song by that musician.

再想想你最喜欢的一首 出自那位音乐人的作品。

Think about them bringing that song from nothing to something into your ears

想想那些音乐人是怎么把你最喜欢的 那首歌从无到有带到你的耳里，

and bringing you so much joy.

带给你那么多欢乐。

Now think about your favorite musician getting sued, and that lawyer saying,

现在想象你最喜欢的音乐人 被告了，律师说，

"I represent this group.

“我代表这个乐团，

I think you heard their song and then you wrote yours.

我认为你先听了他们的歌， 然后才写的歌。

You violated their copyright."

你侵犯了他们的版权。”

And imagine your musician saying, "No, it's not true.

再想象你最喜欢的音乐人说， “不，这不是真的。

我从来没有听过那首歌。

I don't think I've ever heard that song.

就算我听过，

But even if I did,

我也确定我在创作我的歌时 没有抄袭他们的作品。”

I certainly wasn't thinking about them when I made my song."

想象这起案件接受审判时 法官说，“ 我相信你，

Imagine the case going to trial and a judge saying, "I believe you,

我认为你并非有意抄袭。

I don't think you consciously copied that group.

但我认为你下意识地抄袭了。

But what I think did happen is you subconsciously copied them.

You violated the copyright, and you have to pay them a lot of money.”

你侵犯了版权，所以你得赔钱。”

你觉得这公平公正吗？

Think about whether that's fair or just.

This actually happened to George Harrison, the lead guitarist of The Beatles,

这件事真实地在乔治·哈里森 （George Harrison），Beatles 的主音吉他手身上发生了，

and the group was The Chiffons,

而律师代表的正是 The Chiffons,

who's had a song "He's so fine, oh so fine."

The Chiffons 有首歌 《他很好，很好》。

And George Harrison had a song,

乔治·哈里森有首歌，

"My sweet Lord, oh, sweet Lord."

《我亲爱的主，亲爱的主》。

But what neither George Harrison nor The Chiffons nor the judge, really,

但是什么是乔治·哈里森， The Chiffons, 法官

nor anybody else had considered, is maybe since the beginning of time,

和大家都不曾思考的是， 可能从一开始,

the number of melodies is remarkably finite.

旋律的数量就是出乎意料的有限。

Maybe there are only so many melodies in this world.

可能世界上就只有那几个旋律。

And The Chiffons, when they picked their melody,

当 The Chiffons 选旋律的时候，

plucked it from that already existing finite melodic data set.

选择了己经存在的那些 有限的旋律组合。

And George Harrison happened to have plucked the same melody

而当乔治·哈里森选择时, 也在有限的旋律组合里

from that same finite melodic data set.

选择了相同的一组。

This is a different way of thinking about music

这是对音乐的不同思考方法

in a way that judges and lawyers nor musicians have thought about.

是除音乐人外， 来自法官和律师的想法。

Because when those groups have thought about musicians,

因为当法官和律师的思想里， 他们认为的音乐人，

they think about them drawing from their own creative wellspring,

是通过自己的创意来写作，

bringing from nothing, something into the world.

把歌曲从无到有带到这世界。

They have a blank page upon which they can put their creativity.

音乐人有一个空白页， 让他们展示自己的创意。

That's actually not true.

这其实是不正确的。

As George Harrison realized,

就好像乔治·哈里森所发现的，

you have to avoid every song that's ever been written,

你得避开每首己经写过的歌，

because if you don't, you get sued.

因为你一旦沒那么做，就会被告。

If you're lucky, you pluck one of those already existing melodies

如果你幸远，你弹的 那些己经存在的旋律

that hasn't been taken.

可能还没被别占有。

If you're unlucky, you pluck a melody that's already been taken.

如果你不幸运，你弹的那一个旋律， 已经被占有了．

Whether you've heard that song or not, maybe you've never heard it before.

不管你有没有听过那首歌， 可能你没听过。

If that happens, if you're lucky,

如果那发生了，如果你是幸近的，

you have a co-songwriter or somebody who says,

就会有合作词曲作者或某个人说，

that new song sounds a lot like that old song.

那首新的歌听起来像那首老歌，

And you change it before it goes out the door.

然后你在还没发行之前把它改了。

Now, if you're unlucky, you don't have somebody telling you that,

现在，要是你不幸运， 并没有人和你这么说，

you release it out in the world,

然后你把它发行了，

the group hears your song and they sue you

那一群听了你的歌的人就会告你，

for a song maybe that you've never heard before in your life.

尽管你没听过那首歌。

You've just stepped on a melodic landmine.

你还是踩到了旋律的地雷。

The thing is, this is the world before my colleague, Noah Rubin, and I

问题是，这就是世界， 是我和我同事，诺亚鲁宾 （Noah Rubin）

have started our project.

还没开始我们的项目前的世界。

The world now looks like this.

现在的世界看起来是这样的。

We filled in every melody that's ever existed and ever can exist.

我们填满了那曾经存在过 并且永远可以存在每一个旋律。

Every step is going to be a melodic landmine.

每一步都将是 一个旋律的地雷。

And ironically, this is actually trying to help songwriters.

具有讽刺意味的是，这实际上 是在试图帮助词曲作者。

Let me tell you how.

让我告诉你为什么。

I'm a lawyer.

我是一名律师。

I've been a lawyer since 2002.

自 2002 年以来， 我一直是一名律师。

I've litigated copyright cases, I've taught law school copyright cases.

我曾为版权案件提起诉讼， 也教过法学院的版权案件。

I'm also a musician.

同时，我也是一位音乐人。

I have a bachelor’s degree in music, I’m a performer,

在音乐方面，我有学士学位， 我是个表演者，

I'm a recording artist, and I also produce records.

是个录音师， 也会制作唱片。

I'm also a technologist.

我也是技术专家。

I've been coding since 1985, for the web since '95.

我为了95 年以来的网络， 从 1985 年开始编码。

I’ve done cybersecurity, and I also currently design software.

我做过网络安全， 我目前也在设计软件。

So that puts me right in the middle of a Venn diagram

所以这把我放在 在维恩图的中间，

that gives me a few insights that if I were in any one of those areas

这给了我一些见解， 如果我只是在这些领域中的任何一个的话，

I might not have had.

我可能没有那些见解。

And my colleague Noah Rubin,

同时,还有我的同事，诺亚·鲁宾，

in addition to being one of the smartest people I've ever known,

他除了是我认识的最聪明的人，

he's also a musician,

他也是一名音乐人，

and he's also one of the most brilliant programmers I've known.

他也是我认识的优秀程序员里 最杰出的人之一。

And between our work,

在我们的工作之间,

we came to a realization that you may have had saying,

我们意识到你可能说过，

"You know that new song?

“你知道那首新歌吗？

It sounds a lot like this other old song."

它听起来很像另一首老歌。”

And there's a reason for that.

这是有原因的。

We've discovered that there is only so many melodies,

我们发现那里 就只有这么多的旋律，

there are only so many notes that can be arranged in so many ways.

只有那么多音符 可以以多种方式排列。

And that's different than visual art,

这与视觉艺术不同，

where they're an infinite number of brushstrokes, colors and subjects

他们是无限的数字 笔触、颜色和主题

that to accidentally do them is very difficult.

是很难在无意识的 情况下制作出来的。

Similarly with language,

语言也一样，

the English language has 117,000 words in it,

英语这门语言 里面有 117,000 个单词，

so the odds of accidentally writing the same paragraph are next to zero.

所以写作时意外有相同的段落 的几率接近于零。

In contrast,

对比之下，

music doesn't have 117,000 words.

音乐并没有 117,000 字。

Music has eight notes.

音乐有八个音符。

Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.

Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do.

One two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

一、二、三、四、 五、六、七、八。

And every popular melody that's ever existed and ever can exist

每一个流行的旋律里 那曾经存在并且可以永远存在的

is those eight notes.

就是那八个音符。

Now, it's remarkably small.

现在，它明显是非常小的。

I worked in cybersecurity,

我从事网络安全工作，

and I know if I wanted to attack your password and hack your password,

我知道倘若我想攻击 您的密码并破解您的密码的话，

one way to do it is to use a computer to really quickly say aaaa. No?

其中一种方法是使用计算机 快速地打 Aaaa。不对的话，

Aab, aac,

试试看 Aab，Aac，

And to keep running until it hits your password.

然后再继续尝试， 直到它击中密码。

That's called brute-forcing a password.

这称为暴力破解密码。

So I thought, what if you could brute force melodies?

所以我想，如果你能使用 蛮力旋律？

What if you could say, Do-Do-Do-Do, Do-Do-Do-Re,

如果你能说， Do-Do-Do-Do, Do-Do-Do-Re,

Do-Do-Do-Mi.

Do-Do-Do-Mi.

And then exhaust every melody that's ever been.

然后用尽每一个存在旋律。

And the way the computers read music is called MIDI.

计算机读音乐的方式称为 MIDI。

And in MIDI it looks like this Do-Do-Do-Do, Do-Do-Do-Re.

在 MIDI中看起来像这样， Do-Do-Do-Do, Do-Do-Do-Re.

So I approached my colleague Noah,

于是我找到了我的同事 Noah， 我说，你能不能写个算法

I said, Noah, can you write an algorithm

to be able to march through every melody that's ever existed

能够囊括每一个曾经存在的

and ever can exist?

和可以存在的旋律？

He said, "Yeah, I could do that."

他说， “ 好，我可以这么做。”

So at a rate of 300,000 melodies per second,

所以以每秒有 300,000 旋律的速度，

he wrote a program to write to disk every melody that's ever existed

他写了可以把曾经存在的 每一个旋律写入磁盘的程序，

and ever can exist.

还有可以存在的的旋律。

And in my hand right now is every melody that's ever existed

现在在我手中的 是每一个曾经存在过

and ever can exist.

和可以存在的旋律。

And the thing is, to be copyrighted,

重点是，要受版权保护，

you don't have to do anything formal.

你不必做任何正式的事情。

As soon as it's written to a fixed, tangible medium, this hard drive,

一旦它被写入一个固定的， 有形介质，这个硬盘，

it's copyrighted automatically.

它是自动受版权保护的。

Now, this leaves copyright law with a very interesting question,

现在，这就留给了版权法 一个非常有趣的问题，

because you think about the world before

因为你以前想过这个世界

and songwriters had to avoid every song that's ever been written, in red.

词曲作者得避开每一首 曾经用红色范围写过的歌。

Noah and I have exhausted the entire melodic copyright.

Noah 和我为了整个旋律版权 已经筋疲力尽。

So if you superimpose the songs that have been written, in red,

所以如果你用还没写过的歌

with the songs that haven't yet been written,

在红色的范围里叠加，

you have an interesting question:

你就会遇到一个有趣的问题：

Have we infringed every melody that's ever been?

我们是否侵犯了 每一个曾经存在的旋律？

And in the future, every songwriter that writes in the green spots,

而在未来，每一位在 绿色范围里写作的词曲作者，

have they infringed us?

他们侵犯了我们吗？

Now, you might think at this point,

现在，你可能会想，

are you some sort of copyright troll that's trying to take over the world?

你是某种试图接管世界 的版权巨魔吗？

And I would say, no, absolutely not.

我会说，不，绝对不是。

In fact, the opposite is true.

事实上，情况正好相反。

Noah and I are songwriters ourselves.

Noah 和我自己都是词曲作者。

We want to make the world better for songwriters.

我们想创造更适合 词曲作者的世界。

So what we've done is we're taking everything

所以我们做的是我们拿一切

and putting it in the public domain.

并将其置于公共领域。

We're trying to keep space open for songwriters

我们正在努力为词曲作者 保留开放的空间，

to be able to make music.

让他们可以写作音乐。

And we're not focused on the lyrics,

我们并不专注于歌词，

we're not focused on recording, we're focused on melodies.

我们不专注于录音， 我们专注于旋律。

And the thing is, we're running out of melodies that we can use.

要点是，我们快用完了 我们可以使用的旋律。

The copyright system is broken and it needs updating.

版权制度有漏洞， 它需要更新。

Some of the insights that we've received as part of our work

我们在工作中收到的一些见解是

is that melodies to a computer are just numbers

对于计算机来说 旋律只是数字

because those melodies have existed since the beginning of time,

因为那些旋律 自古以来已经存在，

and we're only just discovering them.

我们只是在发现它们。

So the melody Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do to a computer is literally 1-2-3-2-1.

所以旋律 Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do 到计算机的字面意思是 1-2-3-2-1。

So really the number 1-2-3-2-1 is just a number.

所以数字 1-2-3-2-1 真的只是一个数字

It's just math that's been existing since the beginning of time.

只是数学自古以来便存在。

And under the copyright laws, numbers are facts.

根据版权法， 数字就是事实。

And under copyright law, facts either have thin copyright,

根据版权法， 事实要么版权薄弱，

almost no copyright or no copyright at all.

几乎没有版权 或者根本没有版权。

So maybe if these numbers have existed since the beginning of time

所以如果这些数字 从一开始已经存在，

where we're just plucking them out,

我们只是把它们弹出来,

maybe melodies are just math,

也许旋律只是数学，

which is just facts, which maybe are not copyrightable.

只是事实， 这可能是不受版权保护的。

Maybe if somebody's suing over a melody alone,

也许如果有人 只听一段旋律起诉，

not lyrics, not recordings,

不是歌词，不是录音，

but just the melody alone,

但只有旋律，

maybe those cases go away.

也许这些情况会消失。

Maybe they get dismissed.

也许他们不会起诉。

Now you might say, well, what constitutes a melody?

现在你可能会说， 那么，什么是旋律？

And we were initially going to take the entire piano keyboard

我们最初打算采取 整个钢琴键盘，

and be able to do the entire keyboard.

并且能够做整个键盘。

But we thought, let's focus on the vocal range,

但我们想， 还是让我们专注于音域，

which is actually two octaves.

这实际上是两个八度。

And then we thought, no, actually we're thinking about pop music,

然后我们想，不，实际上 我们正在考虑流行音乐，

which is the only thing that makes money that people sue over.

这是唯一能赚钱 和人们起诉的东西。

So we looked at musicologists,

所以我们研究了音乐学家，

and they have debated what is a motif, a short melody versus a longer melody.

他们争论过什么是主题， 短旋律与长旋律的对比。

And we landed with 12 notes.

我们得到了 12 个音符。

And then we superimposed that number with songs that have either been litigated

然后我们叠加了那个数字 与已被诉讼的歌曲，

or threatened to be litigated.

或受到威胁要提起诉讼的。

For example, The Chiffons had “He’s so fine, oh so fine.”

举个例子， The Chiffons 有 《他很好，很好》。

Versus “My sweet Lord, Oh, sweet Lord.”

与 《我亲爱的主，亲爱的主》相比，

Eight notes.

八个音符。

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

That's so close.

那是那么接近。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Oh, I won't back down.

“哦，我不会退缩的。

No, I won't back down."

不，我不会退缩的。”

Versus “Won’t you stay with me

与“你不和我在一起吗？

'cause you're all I need."

因为你就是我所需要的。”

Ten notes.

十个音符。

Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo.

Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo.

Versus Katy Perry's

与凯蒂·佩里 (Katy Perry) 的相比

Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo.

Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo.

Last two notes are different.

最后两个音符是不同的。

The jury didn't care, 2.8 million dollars.

陪审团不在乎，280 万美元。

Audience: Ooh.

观众：哇。

DR: So every song within that is within our parameters of eight notes up,

DR: 所以里面的每一首歌都在 我们八音符的参数里面，

major and minor, 12 notes across.

大调和小调，12 个音符。

So what you see in red is every popular melody

所以你看到的红色范围 是每一个流行的旋律，

that's ever existed and ever can exist.

那曾经存在过并且可以永远存在。

So all Noah and I had to do is to be able to exhaust that remarkably finite,

所以 Noah 和我所要做的就是能够 耗尽那显着的有限，

remarkably small data set.

非常小的数据集。

There aren't that many of them.

他们没有那么多。

Eight up, 12 across.

8 个，12 个。

You might say, Damien, songs are more than just melodies, there's chords too.

你可能会说，Damien，歌曲更多 不仅仅是旋律，还有和弦。

And I would totally agree with you

我完全同意你的看法

because it turns out that that's even easier.

因为事实证明那更容易。

In 2017, Peter Burkimsher exhausted every chord.

2017 年，彼得·伯金舍 （Peter Burkimsher） 用尽了每一个和弦。

You can download it today in GitHub.

您今天可以在 GitHub 上下载它。

We're instead focused not on lyrics, not on recordings,

相反，我们不专注于 歌词，不在录音中

we're focused on melodies.

我们专注在旋律上。

And the thing is, we're running out

问题是，我们快用完了

because the song isn't just a single melody,

因为这首歌不仅仅是 单一的旋律，

but there are many parts to a song,

而是一首歌有很多部分，

and each part of that song can have many motifs and melodies within it.

那首歌的每一部分都可以 有很多主题和旋律。

So each song can have up to ten melodies and motifs.

所以每首歌都可以有 多达十个旋律和主题。

So SoundCloud, which is a way that musicians can upload to this website

所以 SoundCloud，一种方式 让音乐家可以上传到这个网站

and distribute their work,

并分发他们的工作，

SoundCloud currently has 200 million songs,

SoundCloud 目前 拥有 2 亿首歌曲，

and the number of open spaces is shrinking exponentially.

它的开放空间 的数量成倍地缩小。

Because every basement musician is recording, and they’re recording

因为每个地下室音乐家 正在录音，他们正在录音

and they’re uploading it to YouTube, to Spotify

和发布到 YouTube，Spotify

and to SoundCloud.

和 SoundCloud.

And they are exhausting the entire mathematical data set.

他们正在耗尽 整个数学数据集。

They're exhausting the open spaces.

他们正在耗尽开放的空间。

until there are not going to be any more left.

直到那里完全没有剩余的空间。

What Noah and I have done is we're trying to preserve those spots that are left.

诺亚和我所做的是我们正在尝试 保留那些留下的斑点。

We're trying to be able to take those green spots,

我们正在努力 去取那些绿色范围的斑点

put them in the public domain

把它们放在公共领域

so that other people can be able to make them.

让其他人可以使它们。

Because we're running out.

因为我们快用完了。

The thing is we're just getting started because if you go to our website,

问题是我们才刚刚开始 因为如果你访问我们的网站，

AllTheMusic.info, you can not only download all the music we've made,

AllTheMusic.info，你不仅可以 下载我们制作的所有音乐，

which is a lot,

数量很多，

you can also download the program that we used,

你也可以下载 我们使用的程序，

and we're giving away the code for free so you can expand upon our work.

我们免费赠送代码 这样您就可以扩展我们的工作。

Something I didn't tell you is that those eight notes that we did,

我没有告诉你的事是 我们做的那八个音符，

as we speak right now, we've expanded that to 12 notes.

正如我们现在所说， 我们已将其扩展到 12 个音符。

So instead of just the white notes, now we've got the black notes, too.

所以不仅仅是白色的音符， 现在我们也有了黑色音符。

So we're covering jazz, classical music,

所以我们正在包括 爵士乐、古典音乐、

and we think it's only a matter of time before somebody is going to expand that

我们认为这只是时间问题 在有人要扩展它之前

to do the entire piano keyboard

做整个钢琴键盘

and take our 12 notes and expand it to 100

并将我们的 12 个笔记 并将其扩展到 100，

with every rhythmic variation and every chordal variation

随着每一个节奏变化 和每一个和弦变化，

till our remarkably finite mathematical data set gets further exhausted.

直到我们非常有限的数学 数据集进一步耗尽。

This is going to happen.

这将会发生。

And the thing is, how is the law going to respond?

问题是， 法律将会作何反应？

Because the thing is, we're not focused

因为问题是，我们没有专注

on somebody copying a previous person's melody.

有人抄袭前人的旋律。

We're focused instead on somebody accidentally copying a song

我们专注于某人 不小心复制了一首歌，

that they either have heard and forgotten about

他们要么听过然后忘记了，

or have never heard before in their lives.

或者在他们的生活中从未听过。

And the chance of landing in an open spot is remarkably small,

和落地的机会 在空旷的地方非常小，

and it's shrinking every day.

而且每天都在缩小。

And the thing is,

问题是，

the odds of you as a songwriter getting sued are remarkably high.

你作为词曲作者的几率 被起诉的比例非常高。

And if you get sued, you're going want to think about

如果你被起诉， 你将会想要考虑

what a judge or a jury is going to think about,

法官或陪审团会考虑什么，

and they are going to think about two questions.

他们将会考虑两个问题。

The first question is:

第一个问题是：

Is that previous songwriter’s copyright valid?

以前的作曲家的版权有效吗？

Do they even have a copyright in that previous song?

甚至是他们在那之前 的歌里有版权吗？

Second question is: Did you infringe their copyright?

第二个问题是： 你侵犯了他们的版权吗？

So to the first question, maybe the answer to that is no,

那么对于第一个问题， 也许答案是否定的，

because if they're suing just over the melody,

因为如果他们起诉 只是在旋律之上，

maybe that melody's existed since the beginning of time.

也许那旋律是 自古以来存在的。

Maybe there are only so many notes that are math, that are not copyrightable.

也许只有这么多音符 那是数学，那是不受版权保护的。

To the second question did you infringe, there are two sub questions.

对于第二个问题，你是否侵犯了， 有两个子问题。

The first question is: Did you access, did you hear that previous song?

第一个问题是：您是否存取过， 你听过之前的那首歌吗？

And if so, are those two songs substantially similar?

如果是这样，那两首歌 是否大体相似？

Now the first question: Did you access or hear that previous song?

现在来看第一个问题：您是否存取过 还是听上一首歌？

That's got a lot of problems, it's really problematic.

这有很多问题，这是有疑问的。

And the reason for that is there are only a few cases

以及这样做的原因 是不是只有少数情况

where access is crystal clear.

存取是非常清晰的。

For example, John Fogerty was alleged to have infringed John Fogerty

例如，约翰·福格蒂 （John Fogerty）被指控 侵犯了约翰·福格蒂 （John Fogerty），

when he was part of Creedence.

当他是Creedence的一员的时候。

So clearly John Fogerty had access to John Fogerty songs.

很明显约翰·福格蒂 （John Fogerty） 访问了约翰·福格蒂 （John Fogerty）的歌曲。

On the opposite end of the spectrum, on no access,

在频谱另一端，在没有访问权限，

what if a baby were to sing into their toy?

如果一个婴儿 对着他们的玩具唱歌呢？

And again, as soon as the toy recorder happens,

再一次，一旦玩具录音机发生，

it's copyrighted automatically, it's a fixed, tangible medium.

它是自动受版权保护的， 它是一种固定的、有形的媒介。

So if a baby starts singing

所以如果一个婴儿开始哭

Da da da da da, da da da da da da.

Da da da da da, da da da da da da.

And a year later, Taylor Swift sings, "I stay up too late.

一年后，泰勒·斯威夫特 （Taylor Swift） 唱歌，“我熬夜太晚了。

Got nothing in my brain."

我脑子一片空白。”

Clearly, Taylor Swift has not infringed that baby

明显的，泰勒·斯威夫特 （Taylor Swift） 并没有侵犯那个婴儿

because Taylor Swift has not heard that baby's recording, OK?

因为泰勒·斯威夫特 （Taylor Swift） 并未听过那个婴儿的录音，好吗？

Clear case of no access.

清晰的没有存取的例子。

But the thing is, almost none of the cases are that clear.

问题是，几乎没有一个案例是清晰的。

What if there's a question mark

要是关于有没有第二个人

as to whether the second person heard it or not?

听到过存在一个疑问号呢？

Maybe they heard it, maybe they didn't.

也许他们听到了，也许他们没有。

Maybe they heard it and forgot it.

也许他们听到了然后忘记了。

Maybe they subconsciously infringed.

也许他们下意识地侵犯了。

These are all what the law calls fact questions.

这些都是法律所说的事实问题。 问题是，几乎所有出现的

And the thing is, almost every copyright case that comes out is a fact question.

Almost never is it as clear as John Fogerty

版权案件都是一个事实问题。 几乎从来没有像约翰·福格蒂

or as clear as Taylor Swift.

或像泰勒斯威夫特那样清晰。

Almost every case is that middle section,

几乎每个案例都是中间部分，

that fact question.

那个事实问题。

And the hard part about fact questions is they're notoriously hard to resolve

事实问题的难点在于它们很难解决

at an early stage in the case,

在案件的早期阶段，

because when you think about a life span of a lawsuit,

因为当你考虑诉讼的生命周期时，

it starts out as a cease and desist letter.

它一开始是一封停止信。

You need to pay me or I'll sue you.

你需要付钱给我， 否则我会起诉你。

It goes forward and it's going to take years.

它会向前发展， 这将需要数年时间。

And the thing about fact questions,

还有关于事实问题的事情，

they don't get resolved until the end of that process.

直到该过程结束，他们才会得到解决。

That's what happened to George Harrison.

这就是发生在乔治哈里森身上的事情。

After trial, the judge said, "I think you subconsciously infringed."

审判结束后，法官说： “我认为你是下意识地侵权了。”

So if you're a songwriter who's never heard a melody before,

所以如果你是一个 从未听过旋律的词曲作者，

but you are approached by somebody saying you stole their song,

但是有人找你说你偷了他们的歌的话，

what are you going to do?

你会怎样做？

Sam Smith was approached by Tom Petty.

汤姆·佩蒂找到了山姆·史密斯。

Tom Petty said, “My song ‘Won’t Back Down’ sounds like your ‘Stay with Me.’”

汤姆·佩蒂说：“我的歌 《不会退缩》 听起来像你的《留在我身边》。”

Sam Smith reportedly responded,

据报道，山姆·史密斯回应说，

"Hey, man, I've never heard your song before.

“嘿，伙计，我以前 从未听过你的歌。

That was written before I was born."

那是在我出生之前写的。”

But if I was in Sam Smith’s position,

但如果我处于山姆·史密斯的位置，

I would look at this long road ahead of me and the prospect at the end

我会看看我面前的这条 漫长的道路和最后的前景

of a judge saying, you know, "I think you subliminally infringed."

法官说，你知道， “我认为你潜意识侵权。”

So what are you going to do?

你接下来打算怎么办？

It's not surprising that Sam Smith made Tom Petty a co-songwriter,

山姆·史密斯让汤姆·佩蒂 成为联合词曲作者并不奇怪，

giving Tom Petty a lot of his songwriting royalties.

给汤姆·佩蒂很多 他的歌曲创作版税。

Radiohead had a song, "And I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo."

Radiohead 有一首歌， 《而且我是个毛骨悚然的人。我是个怪人》。

The Hollies said, "Hey, that sounds like our song."

Hollies 夫妇说： “嘿，这听起来像我们的歌。”

They made them co-songwriters

他们让他们成为联合词曲作者。

Lana Del Rey ironically, had a song that sounds like "Creep."

具有讽刺意味的是，Lana Del Rey 有一首歌听起来像《Creep》。

Offered to make them co-songwriters, reportedly.

据报道，提议 让他们成为联合词曲作者。

Katy Perry had a song that she testified

凯蒂·佩里 （Katy Perry） 里有一首歌她作证，

and all of her co-songwriters testified,

她的所有合作歌曲作者都作证，

"I have never heard that previous song before in my life"

“我这辈子从来没有 听过之前的那首歌。”

and the other side didn't dispute it.

而对方也没有异议。

They say, "We have no evidence that they actually heard the song,

他们说：“我们没有证据 证明他们真的听过这首歌，

but we did have three-point-some million YouTube views,

但我们确实有三点多亿 的 YouTube 观看次数，

so they must have heard it."

所以他们一定听到了。”

A jury agreed with them and Katy Perry was on the hook for 2.8 million dollars.

陪审团同意他们的意见，凯蒂·佩里 （Katy Perry）以 280 万美元的价格被骗。

Now, if you are an accused songwriter who's never heard the song before,

现在，如果你是一个从未听过这首歌 的被指控的词曲作者，

that is an untenable position.

这是一个站不住脚的立场。

How are you going to avoid getting shaken down

你将如何避免被动摇

for something that you may have never heard?

对于您可能从未听说过的事情？

Shouldn't there be an easier way?

不应该有更简单的方法吗？

Shouldn't there be a way that early on in that process

在那个过程的早期 不应该有一种方法

for a judge or a lawyer to be able to have an early evidentiary hearing to say

让法官或律师能够 进行早期的证据听证会，

maybe melodies are math, which are facts which are not copyrightable.

也许旋律是数学， 这是不受版权保护的事实。

Or maybe there's no evidence showing that this later person

或者也许没有证据 表明这个后来的人

has heard the earlier person's song.

听过前人的歌。

Maybe the idea of subconscious infringement goes by.

也许潜意识侵权的想法 接着衍生了。

Now if you are a songwriter, you should really care about this

现在，如果您是词曲作者， 您应该真正关心这一点

because each day you are walking in a minefield

因为每天你都走在雷区，

that you didn't even know was there.

你甚至不知道在那里。

You’re trying to avoid every song, whether you’ve heard that song or not.

你试图避开每一首歌， 无论你是否听过那首歌。

And Noah and I, we're trying to preserve those open spaces

Noah 和我，我们正在 努力保护那些开放空间

so that you can be able to make the music in the public domain

这样您就可以在 公共领域制作音乐

in a way that you've always thought it.

以一种你一直认为的方式。

The question is not: “Have I made this new song or not?”

问题不是：“我是否 创作了这首新歌？”

Because no song is new.

因为没有任何歌曲是新的。

Noah and I have exhausted the data set.

Noah 和我已经用尽了数据集。

The real question:

真正的问题：

"Is my song a green song, or is my song a red song?"

“我的歌是绿歌，还是红歌？”

Or perhaps the real question is:

或许真正的问题是：

Should you have the blank page that everybody thinks is there

您是否应该拥有 每个人都认为存在的空白页

in the first place?

在首要的位置

If you're a judge or a lawyer,

如果你是法官或律师，

think about having an early evidentiary hearing

考虑尽早举行听证会

to be able to take the evidenciary burden from the defendant

能够承担被告的举证责任

to prove negative that they've never heard that song

来证明他们从未听过那首歌

and bring it back to the plaintiff where it belongs,

并将其带回原告所属的地方，

that they have to prove that the other side heard the song.

他们必须证明对方听到了这首歌。

And they have to prove that that melody is more than just a fact.

他们必须证明那旋律 不仅仅是一个事实。

And if you are a song lover, you should really care about this

如果你是一个歌迷， 你应该真正关心这个

because the current state has a chilling effect on songwriters.

因为目前的状态对 词曲作者有一种寒蝉效应。

Something that I haven't told you is that George Harrison, after the trial,

我没有告诉你的是，乔治哈里森 （George Harrison），在审判之后，

he stopped writing music for a while.

他停止了一段时间的音乐创作。

He told "Rolling Stone" that, after the trial,

他告诉 “Rolling Stone”， 经过审判，

"It's hard to start writing again

“很难重新开始写作

because every song I hear sounds like something else."

因为我听到的每一首歌 听起来都和别的类似。”

There's a reason for that, George.

这是有原因的，George，

Because there are only so many notes.

因为只有这么多的音符，

There are only so many melodies.

只有这么多的旋律。

And the open spaces are running out exponentially.

开放空间正成倍数级耗尽。

Now, ironically, Noah and I have made all the melodies

现在，具有讽刺意味的是， Noah 和我已经制作了所有的旋律，

and put them into the public domain

并将它们放入公共领域

in an effort to try to give songwriters more freedom,

为了给词曲作者更多的自由，

to be able to make more and more music

能够制作越来越多的音乐

and less fear of accidentally stepping on musical landmines.

并且减少了对 意外踩到音乐地雷的恐惧。

Noah and I have made all the music

诺亚和我制作了所有的音乐

to be able to allow future songwriters

能够让未来的词曲作者

to make all of their music.

制作他们所有的音乐。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声)