I got this from my archivists' listserv.

Intellectual Property Run Amok

"FOR INCLUDING a 60-second piece of silence on their album, the Planets were threatened with a lawsuit by the estate of composer John Cage, which said they'd ripped off his silent work 4'33". The Planets countered that the estate failed to specify which 60 of the 273 seconds in Cage's piece had been pilfered."

Link is here.

And for those of you who are Snopes fiends:

BBC link

CNN link




Funny, but I would have thought that silence would be public domain by now.