In a perfect world, the band Wilco would have been slapped with a lawsuit for producing one of the most overrated albums of all time. However, this is not a perfect world.

But, all that press has a way of bringing out lawyers anyway. And this is an interesting one, indeed, at least from my (bizarre, warped) perspective. Irdial~Discs, who put out an fascinating four disc set of recordings of shortwave radio "number stations" (just follow the link), are suing Wilco's record label, since, apparently, Wilco sampled, without permission, over 1:30 of one of these recordings. Here is Irdial's take on the issue.

More overrated bands should get sued like this. Wee.

Kidding aside, I find this a little irritating. For one, these are shortwave radio recordings! Recording stuff off the radio isn't the kind of creative act that needs to be protected by copyright. Granted, the compilation is really great, and I appreciate what Irdial did, but come on. This is the kind of thing that ought to be public domain.

Secondly, and this really follows from my first point, the sounds and atmosphere of these number station recordings are fantastic, and a really great motif to build music around. I think Irdial, as a very independent media company, is totally out of line taking a copyright stance that seems more like the stance of a major label or studio in the context of creative re-use of their intellectual property.

So, as much as I like to see Wilco getting sued, I'm afraid I just can't support. And frankly, Irdial has really disappointed me.

Oh, Steve Jobs. Your genius (or perhaps your turtlenecks) bring immeasurable joy to my heart. It also makes me want to drop $3k on a new Power Mac. Most impressive.