by Joe Bennett | Oct 4, 2021 | fm, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
As you might imagine, most of the work of a forensic musicologist takes place behind necessarily closed doors due to commercial sensitivities. Once in a while a project I’m working on makes it to a courtroom, and if the media writes about it, my involvement is... 
by Will Bennett | Sep 22, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
[JB note: I’m pleased to welcome my friend and colleague Will Bennett as a guest blogger. Will (no relation) is a PhD musicology researcher at Harvard, and also a valued member of the JBMS consultancy team. I asked him a couple of weeks ago what he thought of... ![Have you been hearing Bohemian Rhapsody ‘wrong’ all these years? [answer: probably]](https://joebennett.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-24-at-11.49.50-AM-1080x402.png)
by Joe Bennett | Jul 24, 2021 | Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Research, Songwriting
You know that feeling when a song's intro seems to trip up your ear, so that when the band comes in it sounds like the timing's out? There are a few rock classics that play with our rhythmic ears in this way. When I first heard Led Zeppelin's Rock And Roll I thought... 
by admin | Jun 4, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
The case against Childish Gambino is the latest in a run of copyright claims Article + interview with Joe Bennett. Words: Tom Wainwright. Originally published in The Economist, 15 May 2021. “You motherfuckers owe me!” raps Donald Glover, better known as... 
by Joe Bennett | May 22, 2021 | berklee, Eurovision, Forensic Musicology, music production, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
[update: the next day] So, the predictions were mostly reasonably close, although I missed Switzerland completely. Italy won (I predicted 4th), I got France right at 2nd place, and Iceland came 4th (predicted as 3rd). My predicted winner (Malta) actually came in at... ![Did Childish Gambino plagiarize in “This Is America”? [answer: no]](https://joebennett.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/This-is-America-CI-865x505-1.jpg)
by Joe Bennett | May 19, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
Betteridge’s law famously states that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no”. And so, in the spirit of good blogging and the avoidance of cheap clickbait, I have answered my own question in the title of this post.... 
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