Every year, I teach a course in Music Industry Law and Copyright Law. I like to give pop quizzes just to see if the students are paying attention. Here's a question which always blows their minds.
- John Cage was a respected American avant-garde composer. One of his most famous pieces was called “4’33””, which consisted of him staring at a piano for four minutes and 33 seconds. The piece contained no music whatsoever. Is this work capable of copyright protection? If so, why? If not, why not?
