10/31


It’s starting to feel like old-school groups suing modern acts for alleged copyright infringement is turning into a cottage industry.

The latest: the early 80s funk band Collage is reportedly suing Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson, claiming their monster hit “Uptown Funk” is a rip-off of the 1983 Collage electro-funk song “Young Girls.”


First reported by TMZ, Pitchfork quotes part of the complaint itself, which declares, in part, “many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of ‘Uptown Funk’ are deliberately and clearly copied from ‘Young Girls,’ including, but not limited to, the distinct funky specifically noted and timed consistent guitar riffs present throughout the compositions, virtually if not identical bass notes and sequence, rhythm, structure, crescendo of horns and synthesizers rendering the compositions almost indistinguishable if played over each other and strikingly similar if played in consecutively.”

Larry White is reportedly the only Collage member still living, though two other members’ estates are also said to be listed as plaintiffs. They’re seeking unspecified damages, including part of the profits from “Uptown Funk.”


http://bit.ly/2dVbsNo

I read that yesterday and took a listen to the song by Collage and then Uptown Funk. I listened to both many times and could only find like miniscule second that both songs even remotely sound similar. 99.9% of Uptown Funk does not sound anything like Young Girls.

This is what happens when u are a funk FRAUD.

Good they should be! They've stolen every sound from Kool & The Gang, Zapp Band, Prince, The Time, Gap Band and now Collage!

2020 said:

Good they should be! They've stolen every sound from Kool & The Gang, Zapp Band, Prince, The Time, Gap Band and now Collage!

How true and to be honest Bruno Mars has the talent NOT to stoop to that level!

Bruno's foray into funk reeks of phoniness and contrivance. These lawsuits should surprise no one. I like the guy, but he's about as funky as Michael Bublé.

[Edited 10/31/16 9:58am]

Graycap23 said:

This is what happens when u are a funk FRAUD.

Or at least give people the credit they deserve if you lack the originality to compose your own shit.

Identity said:

Wow! Another Robin Thicke situation.

#lies reaching

Yup!

SoulAlive said:

Identity said:

Bruno's foray into funk reeks of phoniness and contrivance. These lawsuits should surprise no one. I like the guy, but he's about as funky as Michael Bublé.

[Edited 10/31/16 9:58am]

I agree.

madhattter said:

2020 said:

Good they should be! They've stolen every sound from Kool & The Gang, Zapp Band, Prince, The Time, Gap Band and now Collage!

How true and to be honest Bruno Mars has the talent NOT to stoop to that level!

Agreed. I only heard a very small similarity though, however it should be given some credit such as "contains a sample of...." to start with so there wouldn't be any chance of lawsuits. Enjoyed "Uptown Funk" alot when it first came out, but of course, the radio played it every hour and in between it seemed and I got sick of it very quickly.

angie stone and about 20 other people have sued them and won already!

Collage needs to get a ticket and get in the back of the line. Michael Jackson, Prince, The Time, Rick James, Roger Troutman & Zapp, and George Kranz needs the get their money first.

The Gap Band are the only ones to get pay anything out of court thus far.

[Edited 10/31/16 19:39pm]

TonyVanDam said:

The Gap Band are the only ones to get pay anything out of court thus far.

That's ironic, since a little portion at the end of Oops Upside Your Head comes from this song and the original writers are not credited. I know because I have the Gap Band II album. I wonder if Lonnie Simmons still take all the royalties or if the Wilson brothers get paid now. The part in question is at the beginning of Disco To Go and around 7:30 of the Gap Band song

Identity said:

EmmaMcG said:

The Collage song has more in common with Larry Graham's Now Do You Want To Dance than Uptown Funk to my ears.

I disagree on that one. I hear a completely different groove with GCS Now Do U Wanta Dance.

MickyDolenz said:

TonyVanDam said:

The Gap Band are the only ones to get pay anything out of court thus far.

That's ironic, since a little portion at the end of Oops Upside Your Head comes from this song and the original writers are not credited. I know because I have the Gap Band II album. I wonder if Lonnie Simmons still take all the royalties or if the Wilson brothers get paid now. The part in question is at the beginning of Disco To Go and around 7:30 of the Gap Band song

I always felt from day one that The Gap Band was the bastard child of P Funk at least starting with

their radio hits. Charlie's vocal style with the Gap Band always resembled P Funk and that's not

a bad thing; however, Charlie vocally help set the Gap Band apart from most other funk bands

with smooth ballads. I only rate the Isleys and ConFunkShun better in that department right off

hand.

[Edited 10/31/16 21:35pm]

phunkdaddy said:

Charlie's vocal style with the Gap Band always resembled P Funk

He sounds more like Stevie Wonder to me.

The Collage song doesn't sound like Uptown Funk to me. The bass on the Collage song kinda sounds similar to Traffic Jammer by the Bar Kays though. Speaking of Bar Kays, they had several soundalike songs, and both Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean and Night Rider by Midnight Star sound like Billie Jean which sounds like I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates which sounds like Tramp by Carla Thomas & Otis Redding. Also Maneater by Hall & Oates and Part Time Love by Stevie Wonder sound like You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. But none got sued. I'd say many house music and techno songs sound alike to me too.

MickyDolenz said:

The Collage song doesn't sound like Uptown Funk to me. The bass on the Collage song kinda sounds similar to Traffic Jammer by the Bar Kays though. Speaking of Bar Kays, they had several soundalike songs, and both Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean and Night Rider by Midnight Star sound like Billie Jean which sounds like I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates which sounds like Tramp by Carla Thomas & Otis Redding. Also Maneater by Hall & Oates and Part Time Love by Stevie Wonder sound like You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. But none got sued. I'd say many house music and techno songs sound alike to me too.

And of course, Michael's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough was inspired by Barry White's Your Sweetness Is My Weakness.

Sounds like and sounds exactly is different.

Susudio sounds like 1999. No suits, even though our Prince was mister lawyered up.

2freaky4church1 said:

"Sussudio" sounds like 1999. No suits, even though our Prince was mister lawyered up.

Yeah, there are enough differences to keep that apart. The Linn rhythms in "1999" was mimicked a bit in a synth bass line on "Sussudio". The chords are similar in sequence, but they are a different key, and there are other differences. Hell, every other blues song has the same chord pattern in a different key. I don't think that's very relevant in copyright matters. Also, he repeats "Sussudio" at the end of a line or two, whereas Prince doesn't. The horns keep a difference going too, whereas Prince was basic synth hits here and there. Didn't Phil say he was inspired by "1999"? Usually when you put that out in the ether and you don't step on toes with a song, the other artist (the inspire-er) will take it as kudos, and not a reason to sue.

Robin Thicke fucked up by suing first, to avoid future suits. It's like "We know it's familiar, but it's not, so don't go there with me". Yet the estate took offense and sued anyway. I talked to Marvin's son on a talk show (radio, not TV); others in the estate business of Marvin Gaye were there, too. They flatly told me there wouldn't have been any issue, had Robin or Pharrell just said, "We wanted to pay homage to Marvin Gaye a bit because we love him." (as in the example noted above). But because they came at the estate in such a bitch ass way, the estate re-acted in proportion .

As far as Ronson and Mars, there is a great similarity with "Young Girls". It's obvious. But is it stolen purposely? I don't know. That's for the courts to decide. Mars is a good songwriter, in front of the mic and behind the board. However, Ronson has to hold his part in this, as well. Either one of them could have had something in the back of their head that they replayed in the studio. I mean, Lenny all but photocopied "Whenever U Go, Whatever U Do" from , on "Again". Even noted the similarities on his website at the time.

TonyVanDam said:

MickyDolenz said:

The Collage song doesn't sound like Uptown Funk to me. The bass on the Collage song kinda sounds similar to Traffic Jammer by the Bar Kays though. Speaking of Bar Kays, they had several soundalike songs, and both Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean and Night Rider by Midnight Star sound like Billie Jean which sounds like I Can't Go For That by Hall & Oates which sounds like Tramp by Carla Thomas & Otis Redding. Also Maneater by Hall & Oates and Part Time Love by Stevie Wonder sound like You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes. But none got sued. I'd say many house music and techno songs sound alike to me too.

And of course, Michael's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough was inspired by Barry White's Your Sweetness Is My Weakness.

Back in the day,some artists "borrowed" from other artists and it wasn't a big deal.Rick James has said that his buddy Quincy Jones told him that,for the the song "Thriller",they borrowed the bassline from Rick's "Give It To Me,Baby". Rick was not mad.They were friends.It's been well-established that many of the BarKays songs from that period also borrow from other songs.Their 1984 hit "Freakshow On The Dancefloor" sounds like a faster version of Midnight Star's "No Parking On The Dancefloor".Another one of their songs,"Dance,Party,Etc" sounds alot like Prince's "D.M.S.R".I can name numerous other examples.

ridiculous.

this is what happens when you try and benefit from the blood, sweat, and tears from those who put in the work, the time, and the sacrifice to generate the music they did.

this level of pushback should have tooken place over 2 decades ago when the sampling started to become prolific while the true hitmakers and producers were shoved to the wasteside.....

the music world and the public need to know who really made the music, becuase it's those people who deserve the recognition and the rewards

if sampling wasn't allowed the way it was when image began to be placed at a higher premium than actual talent, the industry would have been done a quarter century ago......

You can find Bruno Mars type "talent" in any off-strip Vegas lounge act at one in the morning.

On a Tuesday.