Posted on 03/11/2015 6:30:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The similarities weren’t that blurry after all.
A Los Angeles federal jury found Tuesday that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” when they wrote and recorded their hit song “Blurred Lines.”
The eight-person panel awarded Gaye’s heirs more than $7.3 million.
Williams and Thicke quickly issued an ominous warning through their reps, saying the verdict could have a chilling effect on future creativity.
"While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward," the statement issued through Williams’ publicist and the duo’s lawyer said.
"Pharrell created 'Blurred Lines' from his heart, mind and soul and the song was not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision, considering our options and you will hear more from us soon about this matter,” it read.
“You haven’t heard the end of this by a long shot,” their lawyer Howard E. King told the Daily News after the verdict.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
I listened to it yesterday trying to see for myself if I thought they were the same. The beat sounds similar between the two, but I can't say this is enough to convince me that the one is a rip-off of the other.
I will also admit that I have never heard either song until yesterday.
Before I agreed that the one song was a substantial rip-off of the other, I would like to see the arrangements of both and perhaps play them a bit myself.
As it stands, I haven't yet been able to identify any specific melody that is common to both songs. A style of beat yes, but I don't particularly regard beats as the most significant aspect of a song. Melody's are the essential aspect, and I can't tell that the Melody has been copied from the Marvin Gaye song to the Robin Thicke song.
Of course I haven't spent a lot of time on this, and perhaps with more comparison I might see what other people are claiming in regards to similarity.
Seems to me this is just another example of stickin’ it to the white guy.
After all, many, many negro rap “artists” have been “sampling” for decades (”sampling” = stealing).
I HATE rap, but heard a song by “The Notorious B.I.G.” called Hypnotized...I recognized it.
He STOLE the music from Herb Alpert (of all people) titled the same...”Hypnotized”.
I saved the YouTube links in a file, and lo and behold, both videos are no longer available.
Time for the caucaisians to sue the lazy negro rappers for theft.
Sampling has been going on in various guises in folk music, Classical...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dhr3XL78mk8
Sure, they can play them together because they have similar beats, but there is a serious discontinuity when the melody of one gives way to the melody of the other.
The drum rhythm is basically the same (although the cowbell rhythm is different), and both feature a Fender Rhodes electric piano. Apart from that, they're not very similar at all.
Certainly "Blurred Lines" evokes the feel of "Got to Give It Up," but Pharrell Williams never claimed otherwise, and I don't think you can copyright a feel.
If imitating a funky drumbeat is the threshold for proving plagiarism or copyright infringement these days, then War should sue both of them for ripping off "Low Rider."
I am a big fan of the Russian Classical composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. Eric Carmen used the melodies from two of Rachmaninoff’s most famous pieces. “All By Myself” used the 2nd movement from Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” used the theme from the adagio movement of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony. Carmen had training in Classical music. He thought the pieces were in the public domain but they were not and the Rachmaninoff estate sued Eric. He ended up writing a check.
No music lawsuit is stupider than Mike Batt settling for a six figure sum to the publishers of John Cage’s 4’33”.
How is this different than a band playing a cover of a certain artist/song? Which is then put on their album/sold? And half of those don’t even change the beat or any of the music.
As great as Led Zeppelin is, they were the kings of plagiarism.
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