Appeals court says Minnesota woman owes record companies $222,000 for copyright violations

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota woman accused of sharing songs online owes record companies $222,000 for willful copyright violations, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, reversing a lower court’s ruling in a long-running lawsuit over music downloading.

A three-judge appeals panel ruled that Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis erred when he cut the award against Jammie Thomas-Rasset to $54,000.  More

On Clara Schumann's Birthday, Debating the Status of Female Composers

Poll: Do Female Composers Get Equal Opportunity?

Clara Schumann surreptitiously used the name of her famous husband, Robert, to get her pieces performed before 19th-century audiences that thought women lacked the intellect to write music.
Most of Fanny Mendelssohn's compositions were published under the name of her brother, Felix, for the same reason.

Although many attitudes have changed since that era, women composers remain on the margins of major concert programs and recordings.  More

Don Campbell's Research on Therapeutic Music

Thomas Riis (Oberlin '73), AMRC Director

Don Campbell built his business on the idea that music can make you smarter, happier and healthier. His best sellers, "The Mozart Effect" and "The Mozart Effect for Children," inspired parents to play classical music for infants, based on a controversial theory that it would help their musical development. Hospitals and medical clinics used his "therapeutic sound" environments — from jazz to classical — in their public spaces to enhance healing and relaxation.  More

Embattled Charles Ives House to Be Sold, Says Society

Preservationists' attempts to purchase the former home of Charles Ives and turn it into an artists' retreat appear to have reached a sudden coda.

The Charles Ives Society, which has been spearheading an effort to preserve the 1912 house in West Redding, CT, said Sunday that the property's owner, Charles Ives Tyler, has decided instead to sell it to private individuals in a cash deal.  More

Music Major’s Job Offer – What Would You Do?

Anthony McCain is candid about the adjustment from high school to music school. As he says, “One minute you’re applying to schools and graduating from high school, the next minute you’re flying across the country and entering a whole new world. I had trouble realizing where I was. It may sound crazy, but I didn’t feel like I was mentally ‘here’ for the first quarter. I think it had something to do with being away from home for the first time.”

Other challenges McCain faced in his freshman year: prioritizing studying, and organizing his schedule. “In college, no one but you can do these things for you. Using the resources available on campus –– counselors, advisors, deans –– it all really helps.”  Read More

Alumni access to JSTOR!

JSTOR is available to Oberlin alumni behind the login of our alumni online community, OBIEWeb.  When you log in to OBIEWeb, please click on Member Benefits and look for the JSTOR link.

More information is available here.

Words to the wise! Remember what Steven Colbert says!

John Cage: A multimedia appreciation on his 100th birthday

What Jean-Luc Godard is to film and Marcel Duchamp was to the visual arts, John Cage was to music -- a radical experimentalist who constantly sought to reinvent the art form. Boldly conceptual -- and to many, frustratingly impenetrable -- his pieces stand among the most important works of music created in the 20th century.  Read More

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