Mishaps? No, MIT Apps ...

If it works with apps, it might
 just work with ... cats

"Edinburgh's crowdsourced symphony made with MIT apps" is the headline of a BBC breaking news item that tore this blogger in half. One part of him, the music-loving part, wanted to keep as far away as this work as possible. The other part, stimulated by his passion for intellectual property, propelled him in precisely the opposite direction.  The piece reads as follows:

"Edinburgh is about to host the first performance of Festival City - Europe's first symphony to be composed using crowdsourced sounds and arrangements suggested by the public via specially-created computer apps.

It is the creation of Tod Machover - a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab whose team previously helped create computer games Guitar Hero and Rock Band as well as technologies used by musicians Peter Gabriel, Prince and Yo-Yo Ma.

The 12-minute piece is being premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival and will be played by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), led by music director Peter Oundjian. The two men previously worked on a similar project for Toronto.

The BBC was given exclusive access to the rehearsals".

Does anyone know, or can anyone guess, the copyright and performers' right arrangements that attend this work? Are other IP rights involved, for example patents for a process of creating multiple-author musical works through the use of computer applications?

More on Tod Machover here
Real App music here