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Nos. 15-56880, 16-55089, 16-55626I 

United States Court of Appealsfor the Ninth Circuit

P W,  ; CH, J.,  ; R T, ,  I L’ T M,

Plaintis-Counter-Defendants–Appellants

,M W  N P, I.; ST E; I R; UMGR, I.; U M D,

Counter-Defendants–Appellants

,v.F C G,  ; M G,III,  ; N M G,  ,

Defendants-Counter-Claimants–Appellees

.A   U S D C  C D  C

BRIEF OF PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AS

AMICUS CURIAE

IN SUPPORT OFPLAINTIFFS-COUNTER-DEFENDANTS–APPELLANTS

C D

Counsel of Record

P K1818 N Street NW, Suite 410Washington, DC 20036(202) 861-0020cduan@publicknowledge.org

Counsel for amicus curiae

Rev. 847d6230

Case: 15-56880, 08/30/2016, ID: 10107234, DktEntry: 23, Page 1 of 30

CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1,

amicus curiae

PublicKnowledge states that it has no parent corporation or publicly held corporationthat holds 10% or more of its stock.(

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iTABLE OF AUTHORITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iiiINTEREST OF

AMICUS CURIAE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2ARGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4I. Perhaps More So than for Other Artistic Endeavors, Borrowing andAdaptation Are Important to Creative Progress in Music . . . . . . . . . 4A. eMechanicsofTonalMusicNecessitateaLargeDegreeofSim-ilarity Among Musical Compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4B. Psychological and Physiological Relationships Between Musicand Humans Counsel Flexibility in Permissible Borrowing of Musical Motifs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8C. otation, Homage, and Reference Are Essential to Advance-ment of the Musical Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12II. ARequirementofaStrongerShowingofSubstantialSimilarityinMu-sic Copyright Cases Is Appropriate to Promote the Progress of theArts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21(

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