Still More Reader Emails On Plagiarism

Velvel emails:

Borrowing a few bars, is often a wink to the audience, and done in the spirit of tribute. I see this very often in secular music, too.

Also, look at recent versions of Jewish wedding songs that have intros taken directly from popular "oldies" songs and TV show theme songs. The band leaders can't possibly think that they can pass these intros off as their own.

Chaim responds to Yitz:

To try to compound Chassidic Niggunim to "liner notes on an album" is completely wrong. The Rebbe did not sit in a studio with Larry Gates and think of thank you notes and credits to "Chabad Albums"

If you're accusing The Rebbe of "un crediting Shlomo Carlebach" I think you're off base. How do you even know it went one way or the other, maybe Shlomo Carlebach took an old Chabad or Russian Niggun and uncredited the original author. Who decided as wonderful as Shlomo was, who decided everything he composed was fully original. If your giving Shlomo that benefit of the doubt, wouldn't it be kind to at least extend the same basic credit to The Rebbe that at some point he did give credit, or ask permission from Shlomo?

Despite that, Chassidic Niggunim, or any Rebbe'ish or Religious Niggunim are still on a completely different level than the Chasidic Pop/MBD types ripping off Non Jewish Music and serving it up as their own.

E writes:

In all this plagiarism talk, no one mentioned one of my favs, the "Od Yishama" on Dveykus 2, note for note a copy of "WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR?"

E also writes:

Another thing I can't stand is the selective sanctification of certain songs. "Baruch Hagever" was sung for years by various Modern Orthodox groups but was only first "sanctified" when Aaron Teitelbaum put it on a Dedi album and suddenly the yeshivishe velt (ruling party of Jewish Music) had it on their radar (with its new note for note copy addition of the love theme from Flashdance and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" with the words 'Yimloch Hashem' as the intro song and opener to the "Baruch Hagever Medley" listed on the Dedi album as "traditional", while all the other songs have composers credited). This is on the same album that credits an Abba song as "nigun mbeit abba."

Another sanctification example is the classic "Lo Alecha Hamlacha Ligmor" a song hugely popular for many years in all camps and youth group circles except the yeshivish, due to the tune's association with the non orthodox movements (see here for some song history ) something which has suddenly changed now that it appears on a recent "acapella" recording by Lev Tahor.

One thing I might add, since I have played the "where is that song really from" for many years is an example that really gets my goat. I'll never forget attending the Miami Experience 4 on Chol Hamoed Pesach and spending half the night wracking my brain attempting to figure out where the dramatic introduction to the famous "Shiru Lo opener" was copied from. It was not until Chanukah time, when the album release enabled me to hear it again, that I suddenly realized that the music Yerachmiel Begun used was the same exact tune and intrumentation copied (albeit lengthened and over dramatized) from the theme music "The Emissary " to the prime time television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from the mid 90's, composed by Dennis McCarthy.

Whew!