Copy that
Sir — Both big and small musicians have been accused of plagiarism. The list includes the likes of Led Zeppelin and R.D. Burman, who have allegedly ‘borrowed’ from other artists or subconsciously recreated their musical influences in terms of style, technique and lyrics. This often subjects musicians to legal battles over copyright. Recently, the pop singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran, won a copyright case over his 2014 hit song, “Thinking Out Loud”: Sheeran had been accused of copying the chord progression of Marvin Gaye’s classic, “Let’s Get It On”. But can one be accused of plagiarising chords when most pop songs follow similar rhythmic progressions? The bigger question is, should music be eligible for copyright in the age of generative artificial intelligence?
Sagar Deka,Guwahati
Useless grandeur
Sir — The coronation of King Charles III witnessed grand religious pageantry in the United Kingdom (“Charles crowned king”, May 7). However, the public perception of monarchy is gradually changing. Most monarchies have ceased to be relevant in the 21st century. Many have even been replaced by democratically-elected governments. Britain should also abolish the monarchy.
Further, the huge amount of public money spent on the coronation gala seems to be an extravagance at a time when the country is going through an acute economic crisis. The pre-emptive arrest of 52 protesters of an anti-monarchy group also spells doom for free speech (“Coronation arrests draw flak”, May 8). This shows that a constitutional monarchy such as Britain’s is just as bad as an autocratic regime.
Jang Bahadur Singh,Jamshedpur
Sir — The British monarchy cannot be exempted from its horrible legacy of colonialism, which included the plunder of its former colonies, genocide, slavery and violence. An archaic institution like a monarchy has no place in the 21st century. The coronation ceremony of King Charles III blatantly exhibited the treasures looted from Britain’s former colonies. This is deplorable. It is time countries came forward to establish equal societies.
Kirti Wadhawan,Kanpur
Sir — The British royal family has managed to retain global attention over the years through its celebration of events like weddings, anniversaries, christenings and so on. This is a clever way of surviving in the modern world. But at a time when Britain has been struggling to wriggle out of the economic quagmire caused by Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and a prolonged political crisis, the exhibition of such opulence during King Charles III’s coronation seemed inconsiderate.
Gregory Fernandes,Mumbai
Cold conflict
Sir — It will not be wrong to say that we are in the midst of a second Cold War (“Shifting tide”, May 7). While the first Cold War was between the United States of America and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the second one seems to be between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the combined might of Russia and China, which have totalitarian regimes. This makes it a direct ideological battle between democracy and autocracy.
Further, most developing countries think that Russian anxiety about Ukraine is justified owing to the latter’s proposed inclusion in the Western military alliance. This proves that Russia still has global support.
Aranya Sanyal,Siliguri
Visionary poet
Sir — Sukanta Chaudhuri’s column, “Profound observer” (May 8), was intriguing. Rabindranath Tagore had made several prophetic observations in his political writings. Chaudhuri aptly highlighted some of these instances, which speak volumes about Tagore’s political sagacity.
However, Chaudhuri writes that Tagore’s insight was imperfect as the latter ascribed all the ills troubling the nation to the fact that “India [was] not independent”. I strongly disagree with this. Tagore was never of the opinion that political freedom alone would remove all social evils. He advocated in favour of self-reliance and not just political freedom.
Sandipan Sen,Calcutta
Close contest
Sir — The upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka seem to be a two-cornered fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. The high voltage campaign for the polls — it ended yesterday — raised more dust and heat than any previous state election.
The mega roadshows conducted by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the Union home minister, Amit Shah, are an indication of the desperation of the saffron party to retain power. The Congress’s effervescent campaigning also matched that of the BJP. It remains to be seen which party emerges as the winner.
D.V.G. Sankararao,Andhra Pradesh
Sir — The Congress must make it a point to highlight all the corruption scandals of the BJP to the voters (“Cong keeps focus on corruption”, May 7). This is a good poll strategy. Moreover, such charges should be pursued vigorously as the saffron party has a penchant for using Central agencies to settle political scores as was evident in the case of the disqualification of the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, from the Lok Sabha.
Arun Gupta,Calcutta
Growth spurt
Sir — Hearteningly, the conservation efforts of the Bihar government in association with the Wildlife Trust of India in the Gandak river have led to an increase in the number of gharials — a critically endangered species — from 30 in 2014 to 217 in the latest survey (“Gharial joy”, May 8). The state should continue with such measures.
Sourish Misra,Calcutta