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composers fighting over rights the use silence.
on the subject of john cage's 4'33":
In July 2002, composer Mike Batt was accused of copyright infringement by the estate of John Cage after crediting his track "A Minute's Silence" as being written by "Batt/Cage". Batt initially vowed to fight the suit, even going so far as to claim that his piece is "a much better silent piece. I have been able to say in one minute what Cage could only say in four minutes and thirty-three seconds." Batt told The Independent that "My silence is original silence, not a quotation from his silence." Batt eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed six figure sum in September 2002.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3
my silence is better than your silence :D