Basu on Copyright Law & the Drummer

Ronojoy Basu, University of Toronto, has published Copyright Law & The Drummer. Here is the abstract.

Recent relevant judicial decisions in the US suggest that the question of subsistence of originality in drum beats remains a subject of debate. Unbeknownst to the non-musical world, this question continues to gather momentum and poses some rather interesting questions about degree and threshold of creativity and applicability of Copyright law. This paper explores the copyright-ability of drum patterns, the position of US and Canadian laws on the subject and under what circumstances may such beats be accorded copyright protection.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.