Gitmo torture tunes may be subject to copyright fees

Those songs that US interrogators use when they’re putting the screws to terror suspects? Via a friend, Sean Michaels writes in today’s Guardian (UK) that a Canadian intellectual property lawyer is pointing out that they may be subject to music industry copyright fees:

"If US interrogators have been using pop songs as torture, as has been reported, then they may owe the songwriters performance royalties.

"Howard Knopf, a Canadian lawyer specialising in intellectual property, was first to raise the question. He was responding to continued reports that loud music is being used by America in the interrogation of terrorist suspects. The same songs are repeatedly played to detainees at high volume – until they capitulate.

"’Babylon,’ the mild-mannered folk hit by David Gray, is allegedly one of the most popular torture songs at Guantánamo. Speaking to the BBC last week, Gray was incredulous. ‘That is torture,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter what the music is–it could be Tchaikovsky’s finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur. It really doesn’t matter, it’s going to drive you completely nuts.’"

Uh… Jesus.