Entitled
by G. M. Worboys
Published by G. M. Worboys
Website: gmworboys.com
First published July-2015
Copyright © 2015 G. M. Worboys
G. M. Worboys has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes provided that the book remains in its complete original form.
Entitled
“I'm sitting here tonight with Benjamin Cain, a name I'm sure you all recognise. This is the young man that released Layton's Last Rhapsody to the world. His actions delighted the myriad fans of the late Seymour Layton, but have raised consternation and complicated legal dispute among those that control Layton's estate.
“Good evening, Ben.”
“Um, hi.”
“How is it that you came into possession of Seymour Layton's musical composition called Layton's Last Rhapsody?”
“It's just Last Rhapsody, Layton isn't part of the title.”
“… So you were a fan of Seymour Layton?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Are your friends at school all fans too?”
“Most of them.”
“So how did a schoolboy get hold of a famous musician's unpublished music? A piece, I might add, that no one had ever heard him working on.”
“It's real! It's been proven.”
“Yes, I understand it has since been authenticated by experts, but you didn't know that when you released it to the world.”
“I knew it was real. There was other stuff on there too, private letters and stuff that could only have been his.”
“All right, but how did you come to have something that must have been intensely personal and valuable to Seymour Layton?”
“I do some work on weekends with me dad.”
“And what does your father do?”
“He's a removalist.”
“A furniture mover?”
“Yeah. And sometimes he gets jobs for deceased estates where he has to take out stuff that's left when everyone else has taken what they want. You know, to go to the tip or whatever. They're usually only small jobs, the vultures don't leave much, but Dad says that's okay. It's sort of a perk he gets for having done the valuable stuff for the vultures first.”
“And you were helping him when you found it?”
“Yeah. We were moving this old table. You could see why no one wanted it, it was old and scratched and had two wonky legs. It looked like it was going to fall over before we even touched it. We were careful getting it downstairs because we didn't want to scratch up the house, but once we got it outside we just sort of slung it between us.”
“Where were you going to take it?”
“The tip. It wasn't worth anything to anyone. Anyway, I slipped on a step and dropped my end of it. Dad got hit on the shin by one of the legs at his end and called me a— … clumsy.”
“I'm sure he did. Is your dad all right?”
“Sure. He says the job's not done until you get at least one bruise doing it.”
“And what happened then?”
“I had the end with the two wonky legs, and one of them broke off when it hit the steps. I picked it up to carry with us to the truck. I was about to sling it on the tray when I saw there was a hole near the top of it, it would have been hidden when it was still attached to the table top. I had a peek and I see this thumb drive stuck in there.”
“That's a small device like this one, yes? You plug into your computer and you can backup files from your computer onto these for safe keeping.”
“Yeah. Right. So … that's how I got it – the music.”
“And you just popped it in your pocket and took it home?”
“Well, yeah. All that stuff's fair game. I mean it was just going to the tip. If I hadn't taken it then someone at the tip would've – if they'd found it.”
“Didn't you think of handing it to someone at the house?”
“There was no one else there.”
“You must have realised it could valuable?”
“They're just a couple of bucks each, and they're only used for backups and stuff, so it wasn't like I was taking anything they didn't already have.”
“Except they didn't. No one else has found copies of the files.”
“I didn't know that. Anyway, they probably just didn't know how to look at them.”
“But you did?”
“Yeah. I do a bit of crypto stuff as a hobby.”
“Computer hacking?”
“Nah, not really. Just playing around with cyphers and stuff.”
“So tell us, why did it take three years to decide to release what you found?”
“It didn't. Layton died back then, but the vultures didn't finish picking over his things for ages. And it took me months to work out how to decrypt the files.”
“So you knew it was valuable then?”
“No! I just wanted to prove I could do it. Once I got a few out, I almost didn't bother with the rest, cos I was just mucking about.”
“So what did you do when you found this new piece?”
“I played it.”
“And?”
“Well, when I realised it was something new I uploaded it so others could hear it too.”
“Why didn't you contact his estate, or his brother?”
“Why? The music hadn't been released. I thought it must have been something he'd thrown away without publishing. But it sounded good to me.”
“Was there other music on the drive?”
“Yeah, but it was all stuff we already have, lots of his most recent stuff. And there were a few other files I hadn't gotten into yet.”
“So there could be more music yet to be released?”
“Maybe. The cops took it, so I don't know.”
- - -
“So, Michelle, you say this music really belongs to you?”
“Yes, Carmen. Seymour told me he was working on something. He said it was a sort of apology for the arguments we'd had, something to make up for all the time we'd lost.”
“He told you he was working on this piece?”
“He didn't name the piece, he was often secretive like that. But now I've heard it, I'm sure this is the one he was talking about. We knew each other so well, and this one speaks to me.”
“You hadn't said anything about it before the music was released. Why not?”
“I had assumed the piece was never finished, or he may even have deleted it. Seymour could get like that at times if his work didn't satisfy him. There wasn't any point kicking up a fuss for something that might no longer exist.”
“So you don't agree with those that suggest you're making this up as you go?”
“Let's not dignify such ugly lies with airtime!”
“And what of the rumours that Seymour had been secretly involved with someone else? Might this piece have been written for that secret lover?”
“There was no one else, secret or otherwise. Seymour and I were deeply in love. Yes, we argued often. He was a passionate and emotional man and not always easy to live with. But we loved each other very much.”
“Why do you think that no one else ever heard him speak of this piece?”
“That is another reason I am so convinced this piece is mine, Carmen. Had it been just another studio number he would have said. But as a personal piece, of course he would have kept silent about it. It was just his way.”
“So you believe the piece is authentic?”
“Oh yes, there's absolutely no doubt. You can hear Seymour's exquisite touch right through it. I knew tha
t long before the experts were called in.”
“And how do you feel about the piece having been released to the public in this way?”
“That's dreadful, of course.”
“What about suggestions from his fans that the music should be left in the public domain? They say it's too late to change it now, and they say that Layton would approve.”
“These are people that never knew Seymour, Carmen. He would never have wanted it to come out this way. The piece may have been finished, but it hadn't been professionally produced. Seymour would never have been satisfied with that. We should, of course, discourage people from pirating this music. They should wait for the professional production to made, Seymour would have wanted it that way.”
- - -
“Mason, why is it that the ownership of this music is under such a cloud? You're the executor, isn't it just a matter of looking at his will?”
“I wish it was that simple, Carmen, I really do. One problem is, of course, the length of time since Seymour's death. The estate was effectively wound-up some time ago. But even if that wasn't an issue, there are complications with the will itself. Seymour's will is too detailed. It runs to a great many pages and he was very explicit about what he wanted done with each and every piece of music he wrote.”
“Every piece except this one, you mean?”
“Exactly. It is clear to anyone that reads the will that, had he remembered this piece, he would have given clear instructions as to its disposal. He left no catch-all that can be interpreted as covering this situation, so that has left it open. The result, as you've seen, is that everyone is claiming that he would have left the rights to them.”
“So why did he neglect this one? Are you suggesting it isn't really his?”
“No, Carmen. I bow to the experts on this, and they say Last Rhapsody is authentic.”
“You weren't a fan of his music?”
“Seymour understood that I would be
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