Kid Ory vs. Country Joe McDonald

[Chrome]

No copyright violation in 'Fixin' to Die Rag'-court

Mon Aug 1, 2005 11:32 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has rejected a lawsuit charging 1960s psychedelic rocker Country Joe McDonald with copyright infringement for his 1965 protest song "Fixin' to Die Rag," which became a rallying cry for opposition to the Vietnam War.

In a decision made public on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from Babette Ory, who said McDonald's song infringed on jazz standard "Muskrat Ramble," credited to her father, Kid Ory.

Ory sued in September 2001, claiming that "Fixin' to Die Rag" was similar to and infringed on "Muskrat Ramble." Kid Ory, who recorded with jazz great Louis Armstrong, died in 1973.

The appellate judges upheld a lower-court decision saying there was too long a delay in bringing the copyright lawsuit and awarded McDonald his attorney fees. Ory obtained copyright to "Muskrat Ramble" in 2001.

McDonald wrote "Fixing To Die Rag" in 1965 to protest the nation's escalating military involvement in Vietnam and the song's refrain: "And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?" quickly turned into a rallying cry against the war and figured prominently at the Woodstock music festival in 1969.

[Christiern]

A well deserved defeat--this was a pointless lawsuit.

[Rosco]

GIMME AN F!...

[Rosco]

If anyone should sue over that song surely it should be the estate of Bukka White?

[AllenLowe]

actually that chord progression and basic melodic outline was around for quite awhile, probably derived from ragtime - somewhere I have a recording of a South American string band playing with that chord progression prior to 1920 -

[Chuck Nessa]

If anyone should sue over that song surely it should be the estate of Bukka White?

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Booker wasn't old enough to claim this.

[Kalo]

Try reading Chaucer to this melody...

[Kalo]

Not that I don't love Bukka...