Let Us Now Praise Dennis Scott and Fab Fan Memories the Beatles Bond

My friend and client (and Grammy Award Winner) Dennis Scott has had a long and storied career, but obviously, his first love is the Beatles. For the past few years, in addition to his successful career writing and producing children’s music, Scott has led a great Beatles tribute band called the WannaBeatles.

A while ago, Dennis told me he was creating a CD of Beatles’ fans talking about their memories of the fabs. My Beatles obsession knows no bounds so I was both encouraging and somewhat apprehensive about the project. After all, Beatles projects have varied from the sublime to the awful. I shouldn’t have worried, Dennis' album, Fab Fan Memories, the Beatles Bond brings together the sincere memories and observances of both ordinary fans (first generation and onwards) and celebrities such as Janis Ian, Melissa Manchester, Billy Swan and Phil Keaggy. I even learned something new about my friend Ed Salamon from listening to the disc. However, it is the collective experience of listening to the entire disc-from a fan recalling riding from Nashville to Memphis on a bus to see the Beatles in 1966 to Janis Ian talking about how excited she was as a teenaged recording artist to discover that Paul McCartney had ordered her records.

The disc is divided into sections and narrated by George Harrison’s sister Louise (who once refused to autograph my copy of her album “All About the Beatles”-but that’s another story…). Ms. Harrison’s habit of introducing each section with a question becomes a bit monotonous, but, hey’ she’s George Harrison’s sister. Background music is supplied by the WannaBeatles and the Liverpool Legends.

On the whole, this is a really well done piece of work and well worth searching out. Congratulations Dennis.

F with a G on Top: Copyrighting George Harrison

I recently had a client ask me an intriguing question. He wanted to know if George Harrison’s iconic opening chord at the beginning of “A Hard Day’s Night” was protected by copyright.

Being inquisitive, I first had to learn what chord George is actually playing. Not surprisingly, there is some debate on this issue but George himself apparently identified the chord as an “F with a G on top”.” Whatever chord he is actually playing, the sound of George’s 12 string Rickenbacker changed the world.

I don’t believe that a single chord in and of itself is capable of copyright protection. The issue would be, did the chord by itself have sufficient originality and even if it did, would the use in another song be considered ‘de minimus’. Think, for example of the Beastie Boys sampling case, Newton v. Diamond. I also wonder if a possible use of the chord would be protected by the doctrine of fair use, since you can’t play the chord without thinking of the Beatles and “A Hard Day’s Night”.

But here’s another interesting question. Could the sound itself be capable of trademark protection? Attorney Robert Scott Lawrence in his blog “Who Is Your Lawyer?” points out that over 157 “sensory trademarks” have been registered by the United State Patent and Trademark Office, including the MGM lion’s roar, AOL’s “You’ve Got Mail,” and Homer Simpson’s “D’oh”. A quick scan of the USPTO’s webs site does not indicate any registration for George‘s “F with a G on top” but I am not entirely sure that such a registration might not be possible.

I am not sure I answered my client’s question but it was a fun distraction.