> What did freak me out was the reminder at the bottom that some poor guy had to pay out for supposed copyright infringement of John Cage's earlier work, 4'33". So silence can be copyrighted, eh? Does this mean when I'm alone reading a book and I can't hear anything I have to start paying royalties to someone? Do I have to turn on something that makes a noise so I'm not listening to silence?

Though i realize 4'33" is a common inclusion in recordings of Cage's music, every work of his that i've encountered was more designed to be seen and experienced live than to try to market on a CD. His goal in composing was to communicate zero thought musically. I think he carried quite a bit of the insanity inherent in genius, and i do enjoy looking at the written scores for his pieces (it's tough to find many performances of his work, though i have gotten to help perform 4'33" once--it really is an amazing live piece).

Judging from the actions of his most-educated fans (see link from post at top of this thread), i'd say the zero-thought thing is working.