In light of the current news that musicians Robin Thicke (using the term lightly of course) and Pharrell Williams were found guilty of copyright infringement for allegedly stealing the “feel” and “sound” Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” for their hit song “Blurred Lines”.
While this is certainly a big win for the Marvin Gaye’s estate, what repercussions will this have on musicians and us guitarists in specific?
With everyone having influences and most wearing it on their sleeves, it bears to mention that the line of Homage and explicit rip off is, excuse the pun, mighty blurred indeed…
It reminds one of the time when Joe Satriani sued Coldplay for ripping off “If I Could Fly” in there hit “Viva La Vida”. Did they sound the same? Sure! Was it a blatant rip off? While the melody and rhythm have striking resemblances, one has to wonder if Coldplay was even aware of Joe Satriani’s existence. Maybe they were? Perhaps they weren’t, if in fact the Pop giants were hip to Satriani’s Guitar Instrumental track and in the proceeded to “borrow” from Satriani’s song,what keeps it from being an homage as opposed to a rip off?
Another example the Rock titans Led Zeppelin to see the effects of “inspiration”, easily one of the biggest acts in the 70’s as far as Blues based Hard Rock is concerned, they were clearly “inspired” from the earlier blues musicians. They have borrowed from everyone, including completely lifting certain songs. Do I like them less for it? No! But is it right?
7 songs that Led Zeppelin Ripped Off
I’ve written riffs before, only to be told seconds later by someone “sounds cool, it reminds me of such and such song”! Did I steal the songs ideas? perhaps I was influenced subconsciously but not on purpose.You then find yourself in a predicament of, should I change this thing I just came up with because it sounds like something else?
As to the question of whether Robin and Pharrell stole Marvin Gaye’s song, I have no input cause I just don’t care enough about either of these artists, with all due respect to Marvin Gaye and Pharrell Williams…
But it is a good time to discuss the sometimes not so black and white nature of copyright issues.
If we become too stringent future artists might be reluctant to record a certain idea for fear of being sued, on the other hand we don’t want every person with access to a recording studio, professional or otherwise, to blatantly rip off someone’s hard work…
Blurred Lines Vs. Gotta Give It Up
Where do we draw the line between homage and song stealing?
Leave a comment and discuss..
Guitar Players Collective 