We are very confused about the difference between similarity and illicit copying. Down Under and Kookaburra this time.

Another in a long line of this type of case: Larrikin Music is suing for compensation from royalties earned by Men at Work, alleging that the distinctive flute riff in “Down Under” was copied from the refrain of a 1934 children’s tune, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” As I suggest in the post liked to above (as well as many others on this blog), one has to ask these questions: Do our markets reward plagiarism, or are we confused in believing that an artist or author only has rights in his work if his work is unique? And if an artist does have rights to work that is derivative (as I believe most creative work is), don’t appropriators (collage artists, musicians who create “aural collages” by weaving together samples of copyrighted recordings) also have rights in their works?