Unless you’ve been living in Paula Abdul’s pillbox, you probably know that David Cook was widely criticized for performing Chris Cornell's version of Billie Jean last week. Now, Doxology is using the Chris Cornell controversy to fan the flames they were unsuccessful in fanning two weeks ago when David Cook used their arrangement of Eleanor Rigby. The band issued a press release at that time requesting credit from American Idol producers for David Cook’s arrangement of “Eleanor Rigby,” and it didn’t get a whole lot of attention. Sensing an opportunity, the band re-issued the press release over the weekend.

First, their demand for credit is rather peculiar considering that even though David Cook gave a great vocal performance that night, quite a few people have since criticized that arrangement of Eleanor Rigby because it has none of the melancholy wistfulness that made the original great. But whether you liked the arrangement or not probably isn’t the point. 

Although I am a law school dropout, I’m pretty certain that copyright protection does not extend to the arrangement of someone else’s original composition. Therefore, neither American Idol nor the contestants are legally obligated to acknowledge the artists whose arrangements are performed on the show.

That said, the argument could be made that while AI is not legally obligated to credit song arrangements, it might be nice for them to do so in certain instances when the arrangement is much different than the original. “Billie Jean” is an excellent recent example, because except for the lyrics, Chris Cornell’s version is so different from Michael Jackson’s that it’s nearly unrecognizable. But if all you’re doing is adding some guitars to a Beatles classic, it doesn’t seem unique enough to merit an acknowledgement that ultimately you’re not legally entitled to.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Doxology demanding credit for their arrangement of someone else’s original work is that it’s ruining my fun. I don’t watch American Idol to take lessons in musical styles and keep a scorecard of composers and arrangers. I watch to be entertained. When a contestant chooses a unique arrangement of a song, it’s fun to watch them put their own stink on it. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter to me who did the arrangement, or even who wrote the original composition. And I really don’t want poor Ryan Seacrest to be saddled with the task of listing the composer, original performer, and arranger of every song, no matter how great or small. Better he saves his energy for wiping contestant’s sweaty brows and bantering awkwardly with Simon.

I’m not sure what AI’s response to this flap will be, if they respond at all. I do feel like they need to give some sort of explanation, if for no other reason than to lighten the load of criticism that has been wrongly directed David Cook’s way. But I do hope that this ruckus doesn’t cause the contestants to be wary of choosing unconventional song arrangements. With one exception for this week only: If David Cook has half a brain in that oddly large skull, he will stay far, far away from the White Stripes version of Jolene this week.