Katherine Leo offers the first in-depth study of the evolution of the role of ‘forensic musicologists’ from the mid-1800s through the present day. Leo plumbs the essential question behind the ‘precarious ethics’ of the work of these experts: how two experts, applying the same knowledge, could reasonably hold diametrically opposed opinions on the question of similarity of original expression between two musical works. Leo deftly traces, in language accessible to all readers, how seminal copyright cases in the twentieth century circumscribed the role of music experts, yet ultimately did not diminish their significance in the adjudication of infringement claims. Meticulously researched and sparely and clearly written, Forensic Musicology and the Blurred Lines of Copyright History should appeal to anyone interested in copyright or music, but especially to those interested in both.
