RE: The origin of the "7 second rule"

Must have been the same place where the "free parking" rule in Monopoly (R) originated - you know, "rule" that piles up money in the centre of the board, and when a player's token lands on "Free Parking" he or she gets all the money. Well, the "rules" of Monopoly (R) as printed on the box top of the game say nothing about "Free Parking", but millions of people believe that it's in the rule. It falls into the broad category of "house" or "cottage" rules.

I, too would love to know where various "rules" of this nature came from in the world of copyright. Every week, people contact us seeking confirmation that there's a certain number of second of music ... or notes ... or bars ... that they're allowed to reproduce or adapt without licenses. And we tell them about the "Free Parking" rule.

My guess? They're untraceable urban legends.

David A. Basskin
President
CMRRA Ltd.
Toronto, Canada

http://www.cmrra.ca

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-cni-copyright[_at_]cni.org [mailto:owner-cni-copyright[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Grierson
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 8:14 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: The origin of the "7 second rule"

Does anybody know where the story of the "7 second rule" (about how a song can copy 7 second from another song without it being infringement) came about? I heard it again this morning on the radio on the way in to work, from a guy who runs a local theatre which attracts some fairly big musical acts.

Kevin Grierson

Kevin W. Grierson
Willcox & Savage, P.C.
1800 Bank of America Center
One Commercial Place
Norfolk, Virginia 23510

mailto:kgrierson[_at_]wilsav.com
ph: 757/628-5603 fx: 757/628-5566
http://www.wilsav.com Received on Mon Dec 03 2001 - 16:33:47 GMT