At issue here is the guitar solo. One must remember this is a blues solo and all the blues was stolen from the Southern Negroes. In fact if you want to hear every solo that Eric Clapton "wrote" you only have to find a 1930’s recordings of Eric Johnson and if its not there try Django Reinhardt the two fingered gypsy from Paris about the same time period. John Lennon once said that there is no original music, every note combination has already been played under the Sun. Not so to Germany where if your guitar solo sounds "similar" to some German geek, no matter how obscure, you will be paying out the nose for the rest of your life.
The facts of the case are that the song was never available in recordings, could only have been heard at a club or on a single radio show, and Gary Moore never heard the song. The court claims there is no evidence that the solo was lifted deliberately or even heard, but that had no meaning to the case. The court claims the solo is “similar” and having some riffs similar is enough. Watch out bands, you are in for trouble no matter what with this loose interpretation of copyright. In fact too bad Gary Moore did not have some of those 30's recordings or he could claim he copied from them.
So, my little group of Blues and Rock fans, the question is who owns any bar of notes played? Germany wants to stop with their own children yet I think the original riff that all of them copied were from Eric Johnson in 1931 – they all steal from him. Since every riff is basically been done, all a German has to do is produce some proof they played that sequence of notes in their bedroom before a famous guitarist and you are in the money.
It is a shame that the land of Schlagger becomes the land of everything under the sun is mine. We await the estate of Eric Johnson to sue Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page now for stealing all their riffs!
