I wonder what Sir Mix-A-Lot thinks of all this...

When a story like the Coulton/Glee fiasco hits, I can't be content to just listen to one, then the other. Nope, time time to fire up Logic and poke around in some waveforms.

I had thought to use Coulton's karaoke track for Baby Got back, inverse the phase, and mix it back against the Glee version. However, there were a few problems with that CSI-worthy goal:

1) I was limited to MP3 files. The compression makes waveform subtraction nigh-impossible.
2) The Glee version was sonically different, if not musically.
3) I didn't have anyone around to say "enhance".

I tried to get my older daughter to do #3, and she wasn't interested. Anyway, not one to give up easily, I decided the next best thing is to do a hard left/right pan of the tracks for comparison. The songs are "sonically" different, so getting a sample-accurate lineup wasn't going to happen. I tried to choose some landmarks, and then used my ears to see how things sounded. I used a touch of EQ on the Coulton track to make them sound a bit more similar. After all, it's the similarity in instrumentation we're interested in, not the mastering.

So, without further ado:

Both vocal version (Glee: L, Coulton:R)
Baby Got Back - Both Vocals


And, since most of my interest is in the similarity of the composition, here's a version with the Glee version on the left, and the karaoke version of Coulton's version on the right:
Baby Got Back - Glee Vocal vs Instrumental

First off, I think it's interesting to note the differences between the tracks. It sounds like the Glee version has quite a bit of scooped EQ applied to it, probably in an effort to minimize the banjo. Between the EQ and the compression, a direct waveform comparison was doomed to failure (nevermind the MP3 compression)...but it was after that point that the similarities became apparent.

1) The melody is the same.
2) The vocal embellishments are almost identical.
3) The rhythm track is identical (there isn't a drum beat out of sync, and the bass sounds like it's panned center).
4) Over the 3+ minute duration of the track, there is zero tempo drift: the beats stay synced up the whole time.
5) While the banjo and...mandolin?...are minimized on the Glee track, they are still apparent and identical to the karaoke track.

I wasn't able to hear the "quack", but others have said that it's in there. And then there's the presence of the whole "Johnny C" line which was unique to Colton's version, which also shows up in the Glee version (and really, I think you can stop listing after that point...but anyway.)

</Time to settle back into my opulent, non-existent law library, and pontificate about ramifications of law with the backing of my non-existant law degree>

Colton's version, although a cover, is protected by copyright, and he also went through proper channels to get the compulsory license required for a cover version. What's more, really the only thing that is identical to the version being covered is the lyrics. The instrumentation and feel are all Coulton's...and considering the original is rap, the melody is his as well. So really, it wouldn't matter if Fox got permission from Mix-A-Lot, as they would have needed permission from Coulton for his arrangement of the song.

In the end, I get the feeling that someone knew that Coulton released his music under a Creative Commons license...and completely misunderstood what that means.

I'm not exactly sure how this is going to resolve (as it's not positive that the song will even air, but it appears to be legitimate), but the next week is going to be very interesting.