If one is to say Bob Dylan “stole” these lines out of Timrod’s poetry, then you might as well accuse him for stealing nursery rhyme tunes, familiar chord progressions, or musical tropes from R&B artists. In the direction that music is now shifting towards, critics and artists are becoming far less concerned with borrowing references from other authors, especially if they are outside of the music genre, such as Timrod.
In today’s culture, the term “authorship” has been revamped to fit the prolific nature of new technology. Using a computer’s photoshop program, one can make a picture of literally anything. For example, one could paste an image of himself riding a dinosaur at the top of Mount Everest if he so desired. It is the same with music and editing; people who have grown up in this digital age are encouraged to grasp any idea and make it their own. This is what creativity has become.
So to bring it back it Dylan and Timrod, the concept of “borrowing” information has arrived at such a powerful degree of freedom that to make a case on plagiarism would be a complete waste of time. When dealing with information theft, it is the genre which supplies the appropriate protocol.
Are we to alert Capitol or EMI records (record label of the Beatles) every time we hear a song that has lyrics about holding someone’s hand? Or suspect every artist of stealing Dorothy’s thunder when they use rainbow imagery in their lyrics?
Addressed by American theorists W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe Beardesly in their essay, “The Intentional Fallacy,” they argue that the poet, in writing and publishing his work, gives up his work to the public; relinquishing his authority over the text. Wimsatt and Beardesly argue that, "The poem belongs to the public. It is embodied in the language, the peculiar possession of the public, and it is about the human being, an object of public knowledge"(812). That is to say that an author should be less preoccupied with whether the reader understands the intended meaning, rather he should be satisfied with completing his work and submitting it to public interpretation.
What you're saying here brings up some interesting ideas about the nature of plagiarism. In particular, I think your second-to-last paragraph brings up an interesting contrast that we haven't necessarily discussed. Is there a difference between alluding to or re-appropriating song lyrics versus reusing and distorting the actual music from a song (as discussed in Good Copy Bad Copy)? I'm thinking that, with some degree of change in setting or idea, both words and music can be reused similarly to create a new effect.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that to judge whether one type of re-appropriation is more like stealing than another, one must consider the process used to create the product (whether it be music or text). And because a whole host of authorial motivations, social motivations, cultural phenomena, etc. go into the creation of a work, it would seem that no work is completely original, though the degree of originality might change. I don't really know anything about music theory or composition, but it would seem that this might hold true for both music and writing...So I guess maybe the question I'm proposing is, How important is the degree of creativity of a work to its ultimate value?
Gabe, I like your writing.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I read an article in the New York Times today which mentioned a man who had a job listening to radio stations and recording songs played in order to make sure artists were reimbursed-- that's not exactly the same as letting EMI know if anyone sings about holding someone's hand, but I liked the idea of a company looking out for the artists, and I bet someone had one plum job for a while.
I disagree that once a work is released, it becomes public-- authors still give interviews about works, and they write sequels and maintain the rights to those. Many works are not just about "a human" as Wimsatt and Beardsley say-- otherwise we wouldn't have memoir or biography.
Two points Miranda mentioned certainly affect a work's proprietary status; the creative process used (in the case of a writer, a distinguishing style, for instance) and the degree of creativity (closely linked to originality)... I think both add value to a work and add to its distinction.
To reflect on Kimberly's question on the importance of creativity towards the work's ultimate value, I would say that human creativity is the driving force for all innovations, and therefore should not be limited in any way.
ReplyDeleteAs for what happens to a work when it is released, I would argue that the author relies more on the reaction of the reader, rather than vise versa. That is to say in the instance of say, Harry Potter. We all know J.K. Rowling likes her books, I mean she wrote a 7 book epic. But I've met a wide range of this audience, from those who gear up in Gryffindor apparel every morning to people who won't even touch the books after reading the first one.
In today's culture the author relies on the consumer's digestion of his/her material for success. The point of a novel shouldn't be the author spending his words trying to win the audience over. Rather it should be genuinely creative - and if the audience doesn't like it, well try something new.
Gabe, all of the points that you bring up in your post are very interesting. I think that the problem with the music industry is that it has become way too corporate and business driven. Companies like EMI that you mentioned have made music into something different than other forms of literature, and they do it because of money. The simple addition of the musical instrument makes a text into a song, and thus copyright problems can arise. Simply citing ones sources isn't good enough anymore, and the reason is because you didn't pay for it, and so someone is getting ripped off. It is interesting that you brought up a situation where a musician was questioned of taking lines from a poet. Somewhat of a crossing borders situation. I'd be interested to know what came of the whole issue. It would seem that had Dylan simply said that he was "inspired" by Timrod's words to write a song, then none of this would have been an issue.
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