Over at Public Knowledge, Mehan Jayasuriya writes an intriguing piece about a case of mistaken copyright between Cat Power and deceased songwriter Jessie Mae Hemphill, specifically addressing the issue of whether “incidences involving sampling should be exempt from would-be orphan works laws”.

Matador Records had incorrectly credited a song on Cat Power’s recent Jukebox covers album and furthermore, had failed to pay the due royalties to the song’s copyright holder. The song in question, “Lord, Help the Poor and Needy,” was incorrectly credited as being a traditional song in the public domain in the album’s liner notes. As it turns out, the song was written by deceased Mississippi blues singer Jessie Mae Hemphill and the copyright to the song is owned by her estate. While this story serves to illustrate the need for a copyright system that’s easier to navigate for licensees of all kinds of content—be it audio, video, literary or graphical—it also highlights some of the specific challenges that the system poses to musicians and record labels. Read the whole article>>