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Rather interesting IMO, not only for the amount of money it has made.
- Thicke says he didn't write the song but Williams gave him a credit, normal practice for the industry.
True, but I thought Thicke was signed to Pharrell's label... so it's not like Pharrell needed to sweeten the deal to get it recorded is it?
- Gaye's family are seeking a total of $40m in damages, compensation for the reduction in the market value of licensing Got to Give It Up.
IMO if people wanted to buy Marvin Gaye they wouldn't settle for Robin Thicke.
- Judge John Kronstadt's ruling that any copyright infringement should be based purely on the sheet music of the two songs, rather than the recorded versions. That means only the chords, melodies and lyrics can be considered.
Chords? Is this just the Guardian adding their own interpretation of "sheet music" or are they really going to take chord progressions into account... 'cause if they are there's a heck of a lot of law-suits pending.
Blurred Lines is just another song with cowbell, bass, claps and shouts, none of the writing is stolen. If the ruling is about the sound of the song and it sets a precedence then there's thousands of possible lawsuits.
- How many Beatles sound a-likes were there?
- How many heavy metal bands sounded the same?
In the naughties if a sample couldn't be cleared it was often recreated which was legal as no part of the original song was used. Is all that about to change?
Yes I think it may be about to change K; and it is indeed a very worrying decision. But also potentially a positive one. It's all about crossing that Blurred Line between influence and stealing.
JK2006 wrote: Yes I think it may be about to change K; and it is indeed a very worrying decision. But also potentially a positive one. It's all about crossing that Blurred Line between influence and stealing.
Blurred Lines indeed, where does it end?
Stevie Wonder suing Jamiroquai?
The Beatles suing Oasis?
What about this? It originally sampled Barry White but without permission so the vocals were re-recorded to sound like Barry, "sound like" being the key thing here:
Do you have a case for your "ooga chaka's" now I wonder JK? Equally, do others has cases against you for some of your other productions?!
Ah, different problem K. I never claimed writing and publishing on someone else's song and friends tell me I SHOULD have claimed co-writing/publishing for the Ooga Chagga part which is totally separate from the main melody. But I didn't. No point in crying over spilled milk.
JK2006 wrote: Ah, different problem K. I never claimed writing and publishing on someone else's song and friends tell me I SHOULD have claimed co-writing/publishing for the Ooga Chagga part which is totally separate from the main melody. But I didn't. No point in crying over spilled milk.
"Spilled Milk" - a successor to "Blurred Lines". You should rush out a single like in the old days!
Pru wrote: "Spilled Milk" - a successor to "Blurred Lines". You should rush out a single like in the old days!
Or you could mix the 2 and plagiarise White Lines
Pete Paphides on BBC News now saying he was very familiar with 'Got to Give it Up' but needed to have the resemblance to 'Blurred Lines' pointed out to him before he noticed it at all. This is a music critic, folks!
JK2006 wrote: Another thing K - as music changes over the years, I do think that in 2015 drums and bass and "feel" can almost be described as "melody".
Apparently they only considered the sheet music in this case.
I think it happens all the time by accident, and that intent should have be proven. It seems very wrong to me that if (for instance) Gary Barlow (who I have never met) happened to write a very similar song to one of mine without ever having access to it then I could claim a share. It is bonkers.
I have sometimes wondered about Devinyl's "touch myself" and "Wilde about boys?"
They are very alike in parts. Is it on purpose?
The best thing that comes out of this: people discover how great Marvin Gaye was with Got To Give It Up. I think I owned every format of that song. A thousand times better than the plastic Blurred Lines. Maybe it will send out a message: 'try and really create something'. Anyone who thinks that lazy pastiche was admirable is deluded.
I think the best advice I can give is to suggest that artists write and record material which is original, instead of piggy-backing off the sound-and-feel zeitgeist created by a particular group, and filching some of the lyrics in th process.
I bet Mozart and Beethoven never had this problem; then again, the PRS didn't exist before 1914!
JK2006 wrote: Another thing K - as music changes over the years, I do think that in 2015 drums and bass and "feel" can almost be described as "melody".My theory is that groove has become more important due to hip hop and other such music having little to no melody. "Copyrighting" groove is another thing, although with this particular lawsuit that is pretty much what has happened.
Specific areas for specific cases.
It's a "known fact" (I also read this a lot in articles covering the Blurred Lines case) that chord progressions are not copyrightable, but The Hollies plagiarism lawsuit against Radiohead (Creep vs The Air That I Breathe) was exactly that, and The Hollies won.
No Honey - no deliberate connection (actually the melody of Wilde About Boys was way before the Devinyls - it used to be called I May BeYoung) though I've always felt Everyone's Gone to the Moon owed a lot, unintentionally, to Two Old Ladies Got Stuck In The Lavatory!
Tony Dawkins wrote: I think the best advice I can give is to suggest that artists write and record material which is original, instead of piggy-backing off the sound-and-feel zeitgeist created by a particular group, and filching some of the lyrics in th process.
I bet Mozart and Beethoven never had this problem; then again, the PRS didn't exist before 1914!
Pretty much every form of music is copied/influenced by another and this goes for Mozart & Beethoven too. There must have been an original way back down the line but it was probably long before "recording" of music, be it audible or written, was invented.
You just have to listen to early Beatles to realise they were being influenced by Elvis who in turn was influenced by black artists. Rock & Roll evolved from Blue's and the Blue's is largely influenced by Celtic folk music played in a pentatonic scale.
Howard Goodall had a fantastic series on the BBC called, "Story Of Music", I believe it's available in it's entirety on Youtube, well worth the watch IMO (if you haven't seen it JK I thoroughly recommend it).
In fact I've just found this, another series by Howard which I'm now going to bookmark and watch. The first 50 seconds says it all really.
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