Heard it on the Buzz Out Loud podcast (episode 214 04/25/06 – TiVo Series “Boo”).
The owner of a Macclesfield, Cheshire store selling musical instruments was queried about people coming in to try out the instruments:

if anyone played a riff – an identifiable piece of music – he was in breach of copyright and was breaking the law.

That might be the reason there’s a sign prohibiting Stairway to Heaven from being played in Wayne’s World! <—eff952777ceb343f1e2ad3ab06b88ac1—>

An interesting discussion on copyright in thelatest episode (April 23, 2006 TWiT 51: Digg This) of the This Week in Tech podcast. Nothing really new, apart from the proposed “DMCA II” legislation. But some of the comments by TWiT participants were quite insightful.
Somewhat similarly, a recent episode (04/21/06 – Tom is lazy) of the Buzz Out Loud podcast had some things to say about the changing landscape of music distribution as ticket prices for mainstream acts are skyrocketing.
Among interesting commonalities, both groups talk about new distribution modes in a context in which the RIAA and other “Old Media” organizations are trying to maintain a stronghold on distribution channels.

We do live in interesting times.

Among the trendiest “World Music” bands right now is Konono no 1. Their sound is intimately linked to the likembé lamellaphone (sanza, mbira...).
The Dailsonic podcast recently ran a three-part series on that instrument:
(Part 1), (Part ), (Part 3). The podcast episodes include examples of mbira-playing in strikingly different musical contexts, including Jazz. Though he wasn’t mentioned on Dailysonic, Oregon’s Colin Walcott was an early practitioner of Jazz mbira.
Some African mbira-players such as Sheasby Matiure are touring extensively in North America.
The instrument’s sound is quite recognizable, which might explain its popularity. It also has an aura of exoticism and is relatively easy to make (Colin Walcott’s instrument was made out of an insecticide can). After all, Africa sells when it’s cheap and exotic.

Organology and Globalization. Made for each other.