What is originality?

What is originality?

“Crudely, of course, we say that something is original if some significant aspect of it is new, in the sense of not having been produced before by anyone to the best of our knowledge” (Williamon et al, 2005, p.7). This simplistic definition suggests that ignorance, naivety of knowledge, or even trickery can make a derivative original by dispensing the derivation. Whilst true in a sense, in the music industry, these acts of deceit are more often than not uncovered, no matter how obscure, such as the the Coldplay Controversy and Korean boyband, Dong Bang Shin Ki/TVXQ. The latter of which, conveying plagiarism extends beyond geographical and cultural borders.

Coldplay’s song in question: Viva La Vida

Creaky Boards’ ‘The Songs I Didn’t Write’

Creaky Boards discussing similarities

Radio Analysis

Dong Bang Shin Ki’s ‘Hey (Don’t Bring Me Down)’

Red Hot Chili Pepper’s ‘Give it Away’

Is one common line enough to be considered “unoriginal”?

Williamon et al state that the use of original in everyday language “really means something like: ‘sufficiently original as to lie beyond the bare minimum level of accepted originality’” (Williamon et al, 2005, p.9), which infers that originality is subjective, and that there are levels, or shades of originality, set either personally or by society. This subjective nature is evident in the difference in Western societies to Chinese society, regarding originality.

Bloch suggests that the difference in views is a result of China’s collectivist society (Bloch, 2008, p.220) stating, “it has been assumed that there is less concern for how intellectual property is appropriated or attributed. Therefore, a greater level of imitation in the creation of new intellectual property is both encouraged and valued” (Bloch, 2008, p.220). He goes on to argue that the West tends to romanticise ideas of creativity so that imitation and originality are extremes (Bloch, 2008, p.222). However, he concludes that this is an example of the West asserting views of supremacy as “imitation continues to be associated primarily with so-called collectivistic cultures, such as China, which values the imitation of previous knowledge as an expression of the connection between past and present” (Bloch, 2008, p.222) albeit the West is also guilty of memorising, plagiarising and imitating constantly.

Drawing from Pennycook, Bloch claims, that plagiarism is a Western value, imposing itself on other cultures where it does not apply (Bloch, 2008, p.221). This idea is furthered, “Therefore, he argues that plagiarism can be seen as an act of resistance against the imposition of alien rules. In other cases, it may be seen as an act of survival where the risk of having the wrong idea outweighs the reward of having an original one” (Bloch, 2008, p.221).

In addition to this, the subjective nature of originality is proven to be a social, or cultural, construct as “the importance placed on imitation does not obviate the importance of originality. But what is meant by originality still may not be the same as it is in the West” (Bloch, 2008, p.222). The Chinese perception of originality is further enlightened through two traditional Chinese sayings:

“Memorising three hundred poems from the Tang dynasty,
Even if you don’t know how to write,
You can steal the pieces to write a poem” (Bloch, 2008, p.223)

“Wen gu ru xin (Review the old materials to gain a new perspective)” (Bloch, 2008, p.223)

He goes on to interpret, saying that the former “recognises the value imitation has on the production of original knowledge. The rhetoric of imitation is also part of the Chinese form of epistemology” (Bloch, 2008, p.223) and the latter “demonstrates how imitation can lead to originality rather than be a hindrance” (Bloch, 2008, p.223). These ideas differ greatly from the Western denotation of originality, and may not be translatable in varying contexts, disputing originality as a term, and the problem encountered in applying it to the increasingly universal dimension of music.

Further problems encountered with the notion of originality in music is determined by a definition by Williamon et al, “To describe something as original is thus to say that it is different from other instances of that type of thing within the cultural context in which it is situated” (Williamon et al, 2005, p.8). Applying this quote in terms of music, a song’s originality requires it to be different to other songs within its cultural sphere. However, this definition fails to take into account songs that cross cultures, and thus are not limited to a singular cultural context, but are rather adaptable hybrids. According to Williamon et al, would this be considered, by process of elimination, (as Saussure theorised: We define things by what they’re not (Davis et al, 1994, p.32-33)) to not be original? The originality of such songs will be discussed later on, in terms of English songs covered by Chinese music artists.

In a more specified definition of musical originality, Castanaro states, “Traditionally, it is believed that originality in a musical work lies in the rhythm, melody or harmony of the piece. This notion of originality fails to account for the multitude of components that make up a musical work” (Castanaro, 2008, p.1281). The emphasis on originality in music is primarily concerned with intellectual property of the artist or songwriter, and protecting their rights as the creator. Castanaro pinpoints the current legal problem,

In the current copyright regime for musical works, there is no definition of originality.
A work sufficiently meets the criteria for originality as long as it was independently
created with a modicum of creativity. The existing concept of originality is concerned
only with the creative process and not the product” (Castanaro, 2008, p.1287).

Further highlighting the problem, Williamon et al state, “In music, identifying the highly original can be difficult precisely because the interpretation of music is itself so notoriously subjective” (Williamon et al, 2005, p.11). Advancing this view, Randall quotes Aquin stating, “the originality of a piece of work is directly proportional to the ignorance of its readers. There is no originality… Originality does not exist; it is a delusion (Randall, 2001, p.235). According to this pessimistic standpoint the emphasis on originality in music is a fallacy, as there is little reasoning in stressing something that does not exist, at least not in concrete terms.

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