Jason Robert Brown is a Tony Award-winning musical theater composer. He writes in his blog about his experience searching on a sheet music sharing site for his name and discovering to his dismay that he got more than 4,000 hits of people giving away copies of his music. Rather than threaten a lawsuit, Brown decided to simply write a few of the offenders an email:
“Hey there! Can I get you to stop trading my stuff? It’s totally not cool with me. Write me if you have any questions, I’m happy to talk to you about this.
Thanks,
J.”
While most he emailed apologized and marked the music “not for trade,” one teen took issue with him. In the ensuing email exchange Brown is patient, classy, and treated the teen with more respect than she showed for him.
He’s my new hero.
My friend Tom Matta spotted this link. Check out Tom’s website, he’s an amazing composer and bass trombonist.
