Singing My Song
This week, the American internet has been taken over by discussion about a couple of anti-piracy bills in front of the houses of Congress. As I understand these bills (I am not an expert by any means), the bills will require that internet service providers block any domains that are violating copyright privileges of persons or corporations. My interpretation is that if you offer a song or a video that is covered by copyright law on your website, the copyright owner can request that your domain be blocked.
This is an interesting concept that I like and dislike at the same time. I dislike it because I do not feel that Congress should be censoring the internet. I think it will be a costly and difficult situation. I like it as a composer and therapist.
Once upon a time, as a young professional, I attended a concurrent session at conference that was led by the person who worked at my internship right after I graduated. I was sitting there, watching her videotaped examples of things to do with preschoolers, when she started to sing a song that I had written during my internship. The students were enjoying the song and it was presented as I had composed it.
After the session, I was standing in line to speak to the presenter when I overheard someone say to her, "I really liked that Wake Up Body song. Who wrote it?" I then heard the presenter say, "Oh, I wrote that song during my internship."
I was shocked, dismayed, and hurt that someone would take something that belonged to someone else and pass it off as their own.
I also realized that I had done absolutely nothing to protect my property.
This was the beginning of my copyright insistence and need to source everything that I present in music therapy sessions.
When I write down any ideas for session experiences and interventions, I look for the author, composer, date of composition, performing artists, music therapists who taught me the song, and any other information that I can find. I want to make sure that I get credit for the songs and ideas that are my own. I also want to make sure that I never take away someone else's intellectual property like someone took mine from me.
Now, I have had times when a song that I composed became part of my interns' repertoire in a way that makes it seem like a "standard" in the literature. One of my interns was walking a client back to his classroom and started singing a melody that I thought I had composed. The words were a bit different, but the melody was exact. I panicked thinking that I had stolen someone's great melody. When the intern returned, I asked her where she had learned that melody. She looked at me with a funny expression and said, "From you, Mary Jane, you sing it all the time!"
I was relieved.
This year I am going to try to release some of my original songs on my website, www.musictherapyworks.com
If you go to the website, look for the tab titled, "Therapeutic Music Experiences" to find links to documents on TMEs that I have developed and tested with children and adolescents with developmental and psychiatric disorders. You may use them keeping the copyright information intact.
Please remember to respect the personal intellectual property of all that you meet - composers, authors, performers, and your fellow music therapists - we will appreciate getting credit for our own hard work.
Hopping off my soap box now.
This is an interesting concept that I like and dislike at the same time. I dislike it because I do not feel that Congress should be censoring the internet. I think it will be a costly and difficult situation. I like it as a composer and therapist.
Once upon a time, as a young professional, I attended a concurrent session at conference that was led by the person who worked at my internship right after I graduated. I was sitting there, watching her videotaped examples of things to do with preschoolers, when she started to sing a song that I had written during my internship. The students were enjoying the song and it was presented as I had composed it.
After the session, I was standing in line to speak to the presenter when I overheard someone say to her, "I really liked that Wake Up Body song. Who wrote it?" I then heard the presenter say, "Oh, I wrote that song during my internship."
I was shocked, dismayed, and hurt that someone would take something that belonged to someone else and pass it off as their own.
I also realized that I had done absolutely nothing to protect my property.
This was the beginning of my copyright insistence and need to source everything that I present in music therapy sessions.
When I write down any ideas for session experiences and interventions, I look for the author, composer, date of composition, performing artists, music therapists who taught me the song, and any other information that I can find. I want to make sure that I get credit for the songs and ideas that are my own. I also want to make sure that I never take away someone else's intellectual property like someone took mine from me.
Now, I have had times when a song that I composed became part of my interns' repertoire in a way that makes it seem like a "standard" in the literature. One of my interns was walking a client back to his classroom and started singing a melody that I thought I had composed. The words were a bit different, but the melody was exact. I panicked thinking that I had stolen someone's great melody. When the intern returned, I asked her where she had learned that melody. She looked at me with a funny expression and said, "From you, Mary Jane, you sing it all the time!"
I was relieved.
This year I am going to try to release some of my original songs on my website, www.musictherapyworks.com
If you go to the website, look for the tab titled, "Therapeutic Music Experiences" to find links to documents on TMEs that I have developed and tested with children and adolescents with developmental and psychiatric disorders. You may use them keeping the copyright information intact.
Please remember to respect the personal intellectual property of all that you meet - composers, authors, performers, and your fellow music therapists - we will appreciate getting credit for our own hard work.
Hopping off my soap box now.
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