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July 10, 2003
Steal a Little...
Interesting controversy brewing around the discovery that Bob Dylan may have borrowed lines from a 1991 Japanese book, Confessions of a Yakuza, by Junichi Saga. The discovery was made by an American English teacher living in Japan, and looking at the lyrics listed at the end of The Guardian article, there are some strong similarities, but I think accusations of plagiarism are vastly overstated. I don't see Dylan's actions as simply "stealing" the words of another artist as the Globe and Mail editorial implies; Dylan's incorporation of the references to Saga's book (if that is really what is happening) is much more complicated than that. I certainly don't see Dylan's actions as "tarnishing" his career (Globe and Mail again).
Saga has graciously claimed in interviews that he has no plans to sue Dylan, and news of the connection has considerably increased sales of his book. In fact he claimed to be flattered by the attention of an artist of Dylan's caliber, and I generally share the suggestion that credit in future copies of the album might be a reasonable solution.
This criticism of Dylan certainly belongs in the current discussion of intellectual property, and in general, it feels a bit too policing for my tastes in that it takes focus away from the wrong targets (the way that copyright law is constructed). Of course, there are other people who are much more prepared to talk about this issue than I am.
Posted by chuck at July 10, 2003 11:15 PM
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