COPYRIGHT

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Is the famous Picasso quote that many artists and musicians stand by when creating their art. But in order to successfully take someone else’s work and make it your own (which is how EVERYBODY creates), you have to be very aware of a tiny little detail called copyright.

“Copyright protects the expression of an idea by conferring exclusive rights on the owner.”

As soon you create a new song or piece of music, you have copyright in it. There is a common misconception that musicians have to register their works to make their work legally copyrighted. This is untrue; however, you still need to prove that it was you that created the piece of music if you are going to stand up in a court of law. A very famous copyright case that every musician should know about is the one including Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Marvin Gaye over the pop hit ‘Blurred Lines’.

Artist image of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams handing bags of cash to Marvin Gaye.

“A US federal appeals court has upheld a copyright infringement verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over the 2013 hit song Blurred Lines, agreeing with lower courts that the song illegally copied from Marvin Gaye's Got to Give it Up.”

This is a very controversial case as the defendants were not accused of stealing a melody or chord arrangement, lyrics or notes etc. Which is what you would think most copyright cases in music would be about… Instead they were accused of taking a ‘feeling’ or ‘style’. The intro to the song starts with a drum pattern which features cowbells and is very similar to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give it Up’ but is not identical and certainly isn’t sampled. This caused an uproar in the music industry as many believed they were being wrongly targeted. If the defendants were to lose this case it would change the way musicians copyright music forever.

“R Kelly, composer Hans Zimmer and members of The Go-Go's and The Black Crowes were among more than 200 musicians who jointly filed a brief in favour of the defendants, saying the ruling could have an "adverse impact on their own creativity, on the creativity of future artists, and on the music industry in general."

Gaye's family claimed it was a "victory for the rights of all musicians" however many more people believe that the verdict was a mistake, saying that copying the ‘feel’ of a song is an intangible quality. But since this case went through many more like it have followed.

Perhaps the creators of ‘Blurred Lines’ did recognize the similarities between the two songs and should have received permission from Gaye’s family before releasing the song but it’s up for debate whether or not this is necessary. As a musician in the modern day it is very important to note that these sorts of cases happen all the time and be very weary when creating your own music that aren’t crossing these lines weather you believe in them or not.

References:

Music Rights Australia - Copyright FAQs. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.musicrights.com.au/antipiracy/what-is-copyright/

AMCOS, A. (2019). Copyright. Retrieved from http://apraamcos.com.au/music-creators/copyright/

Musicians up in arms after court rules Blurred Lines ripped off Marvin Gaye. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-22/court-rules-with-gaye-family-in-blurred-lines-case/9576518

blurred lines court case - Google Search. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=blurred+lines+court+case&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil6veLkujhAhVFWisKHT3BB9EQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1280&bih=666&dpr=1#imgrc=TOUgUvRA-mxjmM: