A 73-year-old bar manager who illegally performed copyrighted tunes by the Beatles and other artists on the harmonica was arrested Thursday on suspicion of violating the Copyright Law, police said.
Arrested was Masami Toyoda, of Tokyo's Nerima-ku. He has reportedly admitted to the allegations against him.
Investigators accuse Toyoda of illegally performing 33 songs such as the Beatles' songs "Here, There and Everywhere" and "Yesterday," whose copyrights are managed by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers. He allegedly performed the songs on the harmonica with a female pianist at the bar he operated between August and September this year.
Officials said the society sought a provisional injunction against Toyoda in 2001 because he had repeatedly performed copyrighted songs in the past without permission, and the Tokyo District Court granted the injunction.
The society filed a criminal complaint against him in September this year because he later kept playing copyrighted songs.
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
Tell us something.: I play flute, whistle and harp and have been a member on this board for many years. I have tended to be a lurker recently and just posted a response for the first time in quite awhile.
Yeah- I've heard that The Traveler's Club & Tuba Museum outside of Lansing requires musicians that play there to only play their own original pieces so they don't have to pay the copyright fees. Wonder how that's working for them...
Tell us something.: I've picked up the tinwhistle again after several years, and have recently purchased a Chieftain v5 from Kerry Whistles that I cannot wait to get (why can't we beam stuff yet, come on Captain Kirk, get me my Low D!)
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
Tell us something.: You just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don't need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You don't need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free
I think most venues in the UK pay an annual fee to the Performing Rights Society to cover this sort of thing. Or at least they're supposed to. I've only ever had to fill out a PRS form in one of the venues around here that I've played.
Scott McCallister wrote:Just to play devil's advocate
How's it go? You hum it, I'll noodle...is it copyrighted?
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
StevieJ wrote:That is ridiculous, but I was hoping this thread was going to be about you, Steve!
You think I play Beatles songs, huh? That was the one aspect of the story I did wonder about. The tunes are are mostly a bit, er, threadbare, unless you have a George Martin organising the backing!
And you were hoping that I was elderly, eh?
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
springrobin wrote:Yeah- I've heard that The Traveler's Club & Tuba Museum outside of Lansing requires musicians that play there to only play their own original pieces so they don't have to pay the copyright fees. Wonder how that's working for them...
I don't know how it's working for them but, judging from how much I enjoy most of the original pieces I hear, it wouldn't work very well for me as a member of the audience .
Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium. ~ Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence.----Seneca
Martin Milner wrote:Who owns the coyright of the Beatles Tunes these days anyway? Didn't P McC sell them off, or something?
Bet he's like his share of the tips that bar manager got, to help pay for his divorce.
Many of the earlier Beatles Tunes went a long time ago to Mr Whiteface. There was a rumour that he sold them when his piggybank emptied, but who has them now?
