https://www.youtube.com/w...Pf0YbXqDm0
By Jeremy D. Larson
Last night, a jury ruled in favor of the Mar...aye estate in a lawsuit that claims “Blurred Lines” willfully stole from Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up.” It’s a ruling that could perhaps make litigious what popmusic has done since the first time Elvis Presley sung a note on stage: borrow from other songs.
As Keith Harris writes at The Guardian, this case doesn’t make it really set a legal precedent, per se. Most copyright infringement cases are settled out of court so the decision doesn’t lay in the hands of the jury, who are just regular humans largely unfamiliar with copyright laws. In the “Got to Give It Up”/”Blurred Lines” case was especially unpredictable. Harris writes:

“Ultimately, the Blurred Lines case isn’t so much about the scope of copyright protection, or even about the schadenfreude in which we collectively indulge when a smirky ass-man has to publicly empty his wallet and fess up to deceit. It’s about the strange, unpredictable entity that is the American jury doing whatever it is an American jury does while we’re not looking. Eightordinary people, having had the nuances of US copyright law debated around them for weeks, went back into a room by themselves with a set of instructions and made a decision.”

This isn’t a case of using an unlicensed sample and reaping the profits from it, like the landmark Biz Markie case in 1991. In this instance, it’s just a matter of “feel”. That “feel” might spawn any number of lawsuits in which one artist thinks another artist borrowed a “feel” a little too liberally.
The fact is, this type of situation comes around in the news every year or so. This year it was thatSam Smith’s “Stay Wit...k Down.” In 2013, it was Katy Perry’s “Roar” that kinda sounded like Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.” There’s One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” that kinda sounds like The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” kinda sounds like about four different Police songs playing at the same time.
Bruno Mars’ titanium voice and throwback style will always draw comparisons to the heyday of soul and funk, and his collaboration with Mark Ronson on the latest entry into the Timeless Wedding Jams playlist, “Uptown Funk”, is no different. Should the “Blurred Lines” case nudge in a new era where lawsuits can come flying left and right from artists who “did it first,” then “Uptown Funk” is probably the most litigious song on the market right now.
As an exercise in this backwards universe where lawsuits come at the drop of a hat because asong has the same “feel”, here are a bunch of people who could sue for millions for what “Uptown Funk” kinda sounds like:

https://www.youtube.com/w...19Gt1SczVY
“Jungle Love” a.k.a. the mosquito encased in amber from which “Uptown Funk” was cultivated.


The Gap Band – “Oops Upside Your Head”


https://www.youtube.com/w...eHDnF7MU90

Where do you think they got the rhythm for “Uptown funk you up” from?


Michael Jackson – “Jam”


https://www.youtube.com/w...bHI1yI1Ndk


The horn parts are pretty much the same.

Trinidad James – “All Gold Everything”


https://www.youtube.com/w...K2FqPNIT_U
Where do you think he got the “Don’t believe me just watch” from?


Zapp & Roger – “More Bounce To the Ounce”


https://www.youtube.com/w...K6wOG_aDl8

The whole “singing as bass line thing” is Zapp & Roger’s whole move.

Prince – “Uptown”

https://www.youtube.com/w...ISW7zEy4WQ

As long as it’s the wild west era of lawsuits, let’s throw this on here, as Prince surely would take license with the whole “Uptown” idea and the fact that it was he who birthed Morris Day into this world.

The Really Wild Show Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/w...7fVuf5YBNo
While we’re at it, how about this ’80s BBC nature show? Sounds vaguely similar.


Ray Parker Jr. – “Ghostbusters”

https://www.youtube.com/w...e93CLbHjxQ

If you say “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost” periodically during “Uptown Funk” it kind of makes the song sound like “Ghostbusters”. This is a stretch… but maybe it isn’t!

http://radio.com/2015/03/...sw.twitter

.....

[Edited 3/12/15 11:05am]

[Edited 3/12/15 11:50am]

Did monster hit "Uptown F...nd Reviews

Ya know the more I listen to this song, I think I hear bits and pieces of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" somewhere in there too. And I dont think Mark or Bruno ever gave Richard Shuckburgh any credit for that or even gave him a shoutout on Twitter. Perhaps the Estate of Richard Shuckburgh should lawyer up and file suit.

[Edited 3/12/15 12:39pm]

No.

It's more than legally OK to use riffs or parts of songs to comp together an original piece of your own. It's using the entire thing to the point that a reasonable person can not tell the difference between the songs that gets you into trouble:



No need to even tell you where this came from...

funksterr said:

It's more than legally OK to use riffs or parts of songs to comp together an original piece of your own. It's using the entire thing to the point that a reasonable person can not tell the difference between the songs that gets you into trouble:



No need to even tell you where this came from...

Wow!! Marvin Gaye?

You know it's funny I was just about to post a thread like this. I would love it if someone went after Bruno for Uptown Funk. The sad thing is that these songs often work because the kids have no idea who the original artist is or were not even alive to experience them.

They are really reaching with those examples. As I said:

a) The song in question has to of been a massive hit, or been on a massive hit album, to bother to sue.

b) Alot of artists I reckon wouldn't even want to sue unless absolutely necessary (but their lawyers would LOL), as artists do not want the hassle and frankly it should go against their belief that all artists to an extent are influenced and copy from others. That's what art does and most artists (should) know that.

c) Estates of dead artists like Marvin Gaye are infamous for being greedy fuckers who's widows/spouses or whomever need money.

On the whole, the vast majority of song copyright cases are ridiculous and a waste of time. Settle out of court by all means but don't let it drag on through court. Most of the time it's frankly stupid.

The only conclusion we can draw from the Blurred Lines case is that Pharrell and Thicke should've hired a better lawyer.

As to Uptown Funk....this guy pretty much nailed it. I also just realized that Uptown Funk actually has no chorus.

[Edited 3/13/15 0:29am]

The author didn't do his homework beforehand. Trinidad James is credited on the song and is receiving royalties. The article has been updated.