Lawrence Ferrara spent some time this morning talking about what he called an erroneous "conflation" between standards for substantial similarity in composition and sound recordings. Pardon me, but aren't they the same test? The fair use and de minimis provisions of copyright law apply equally to sound recordings and musical compositions, and that's precisely where the Sixth Circuit got things wrong in Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films.

Meanwhile, Shoshana Zisk reports speaking with the artist, Michael Hampton, whose three notes were actually sampled, and he said he'd sooner enter the Downhill Battle remix contest than to sue (of course he didn't own the copyright).

Update: Michael Bell-Smith, creator of the "Three Notes and Counting" contest, gave a demonstration of sampling and remix technology. He first played some of the completely distinct entries built using only the same guitar riff, then used a few programs onstage to turn the guitar into a set of drumbeats. Amazing. At what point will we recognize that new sound as something other than an "infringing sample"?