Sure are a lot of stand-offs since returning to academia, especially the PhD which commenced in 2020. After two weeks into the first mandatory research course, everyone in my class signed a petition to remove the teacher. Everyone except me. They wrote something up about the fact he should not be teaching the course but it was not because he did not know the material. How could the students determine the teacher should not be teaching from only two classes? Being the lone holdout I soon felt very disliked by the ringleaders. I also sensed my stance gave others second thoughts realizing not everyone came here to reenact Lord of The Flies. Today, marking papers from the assignment where students question lawsuits about copyright infringement and whether they agreed or not. It is very enjoyable to consider melodies and the law. I like making them reenact a consideration for each side’s merit. We look at Manu Dibango’s song Soul Makossa and the settlement paid by Michael Jackson for Wanna Be Startin’ Something, and we look at George Harrison’s settlement for He’s So Fine, we look at Stairway to Heaven and Spirit’s Taurus which they did not win any copyright infringement for but I love Randy California. I believe part of that outcome stems from him not being alive to tell the story from his side. There are many case studies. One student picked out the recent dispute involving Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On. He concludes that it was fair when they found Ed Sheeran not guilty of stealing the original song but he also believes it was all about racism. I didn’t follow his logic. Is he concluding it was a racist story because Sheeran is white and Gaye black? I am planning to ask what his conclusion is based upon, maybe he knows something I don’t or maybe I know something he don’t.