Years Of Brainwashing The Public Into Thinking Everything Creative Must Be 'Owned' Has Led To This New Mess

from the culture-is-about-sharing dept

Fri, Mar 13th 2015 8:26am — Mike Masnick

We have already written about the ridiculousness of a jury awarding over $7 million from Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke to the children of Marvin Gaye, because their song "Blurred Lines" sounds kinda (but not really) a bit like Gaye's "Got to Give it Up." The ruling is problematic on multiple levels, as many commentators are just now realizing. Copyright lawyer Fred von Lohmann pointed out that, technically, everyone who bought copies of "Blurred Lines" is now infringing as well -- and that could apply to many others too, including Weird Al who famously did a hilarious parody of "Blurred Lines" called "Word Crimes." Weird Al, somewhat famously, makes sure to get permission to do his parodies, even though he could probably just use fair use. But... if "Blurred Lines" is infringing, there's no fair use argument to be made and Weird Al doesn't have permission from the Gaye Estate.

In other words: what a massive mess.

But that's just getting down into the technicalities, which may not matter if the Gaye Estate doesn't push the issue -- but could certainly come up in future cases. Plenty of other folks have pointed out that no matter what you think of any of the parties involved, this ruling is bad for music, bad for musicians and bad for songwriters. And, yes, musicians are concerned:

Los Angeles composer and producer Gregory Butler said Tuesday afternoon that his friends and colleagues in the industry were stunned by the verdict.

"You've made it illegal to reference previous material," said Butler, also a managing director at music startup WholeWorldBand. "I'm never going to come up with something so radically different that it doesn't contain references to something else."

Joe Escalante, an early member of the Vandals punk rock band and an entertainment law attorney, said he was concerned that the jury's decision had been driven by emotion rather than what's protected under copyright law.

"This may put a smile on the Gaye family's face, but it's a dark day for creativity, and in the end, this will be a net loss for music fans," he said. "Good news for lawyers and the bitter everywhere."

And that just hints at how it's bad for culture as well.

"Culture" itself is based on the very idea of common ideas that are shared. Common ideas are the core of every cultural movement. You share a "feel" because you want to identify yourself with a particular culture. Music in a genre has similarities for a reason. People identify with it for a reason. Locking up "the feel" of music decimates that nature of culture. We lose the "shared" part of "shared culture." And you would think that those who are often at the forefront of pushing the shared culture on everyone -- the major record labels -- would recognize this. And yet, they're partly responsible for this mess. Because they're the ones who have been pushing this myth for years that every single scrap of cultural output must be "owned" and doing anything they don't like to build off of it must be "infringing."

To be fair, this case is going to be appealed, and others have made perfectly reasonable arguments for how it's somewhat unique, in part based on the fact that Robin Thicke was an incredibly unsympathetic player in all of this -- admitting to lying and being inconsistent with his statements -- a fact that the Gaye's lawyer gleefully exploited. There is also the simple fact that this is a jury ruling and has no direct precedent-setting ability. That comes from appeals court rulings (and Supreme Court rulings), so we need to wait for any real precedent from this case. Of course, there have been some similar cases in the past, and the results often show the same sort of confusion about copyright, which is troubling.

And, it all seems to come back to this weird concept that people believe in this myth of "ownership" over cultural touchstones. The very things that should be shared: the "feel" of music, the "groove," the cultural sharing point that everyone builds off of. In discussing this case on Twitter, and talking about the horrible implications of the ruling, I noticed more than a few people on Twitter brush off all the concerns with a simple kind of "dude, they copied Gaye, so good ruling." Amazingly, one songwriter insisted that the ruling was correct and when I looked at his personal webpage it was all about how his music was "inspired" by other famous bands. Watch out, because now those bands could come after you.

This case has strayed far from actual copyright law into a made up fantasy land of copyright law -- one where people are punishing Thicke because they don't like him or the way he acted. They're also punishing both Williams and Thicke because of this amorphous idea that they must have "ripped off" Gaye because the songs feel the same. Even the press is confusing this. You see idiotic headlines, like this one from Vulture, which claims the lawsuit was about plagiarism. Except plagiarism isn't illegal. Copyright infringement is -- and plagiarism and copyright infringement are not the same thing. And even if this were "plagiarism" the question is plagiarism of what? Musicologists who have compared the two songs note that they're actually really, really different. The only thing that's the same is "the feel" of the songs. And "feel" is not something covered copyright.

But people know that plagiarism is "wrong" so they look at what Williams and Thicke did here -- copying the "feel" -- and they insist that it must be "wrong," even if copyright is only supposed to cover the specific expression written down in the sheet music for Gaye's song. The actual notes in "Blurred Lines" don't match that sheet music at all. But rather than sticking to the letter of the law, or even bothering to understand that copyright only covers specific expression, we keep getting this message pushed on us, by the RIAA, the MPAA and others, that every bit of culture must be "owned." And you can't do anything without a license. And people have heard that refrain so many times, that it infects their psyche.

As Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman note in their own writeup about the ruling, the incredible thing is just how wrong it is on copyright. Yes, there may be some elements that were copied, but those are not the elements covered by copyright:

In short, what the “Blurred Lines” team copied is either not original or not relevant.

So when they see a situation here, where a less-than-likable character has made a song that was inspired by another, they assume that something must be wrong with it, and even if the law doesn't actually apply, dammit, they're just going to say that it does. It's the inevitable result of constantly pushing for a society where every bit of culture is owned under lock and key and the idea of sharing, remixing, reusing is deemed subversive, rather than the way that culture happens.

Whether or not this case really does have a long-term or wider-term impact may not really matter that much. But the results here are indicative of something bigger: and it's a dangerous view that undermines the very nature of culture itself.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: blurred lines, copyright, culture, marvin gaye, ownership, pharrell williams, robin thicke

67 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Ninja (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 6:47am

Maybe it would be good if this set a precedent that triggers some heavy mayhem. I mean, if the copymorons push so hard that it comes back to bite them hard and there's a serious disruption both in the businesses and in the creative scene as well maybe the MAFIAA and friends will be forced to back down and the Congress actually go for a comprehensive overhaul of this broken system. For me this seems the only way to make things work: hit the money hard and everybody will be more than willing to sit down and talk about this madness.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- That One Guy (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 8:31am
  
  Re:
  I imagine they'd be willing to deal with the costs imposed, as while major labels could pay, smaller ones, or independent artists wouldn't have a chance, which would neatly kill off that 'competition' thing they don't care for.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 8:46am

Question...
On the issue of plagiarism not being illegal, especially with regards to music, yes copyright on the recording only protects the specific expression, but wouldn't a copyright by a songwriter on the song itself protect against plagiarism? I realize that is not the case here as musically or lyrically they are not the same. I was speaking specifically to the claim that plagiarism isn't illegal in the music industry.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 12:04pm
  
  Re: Question...
  Plagiarism is likely to be infringement, but the plagiarism aspect doesn't really matter. Meaning if I copy your song and credit it to you, but don't have permission, that's infringement -- and if I copy your song and pretend I made it myself, again without permission, then that's the exact same kind of infringement. The fact that one is plagiarism and one is admitted copying makes no real difference to the legal question.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 12:28pm
    
    Re: Re: Question...
    I get that. But what you are saying effectively is that plagiarism is infringement but not all infringement is plagiarism. But if all infringement is illegal that would then by definition make plagiarism illegal which is in turn contrary to the assertion that plagiarism isn't illegal. See my point?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 12:30pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      The fact that the term "plagiarism" is specifically referred to in copyright statutes is irrelevant.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 12:45pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      Of course, in some cases you could have plagiarism that was actually fair use which by definition isn't infringement and therefore wouldn't be illegal, but apart from that, I can't really see where plagiarism wouldn't be illegal by inclusion.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 12:51pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      But if all infringement is illegal that would then by definition make plagiarism illegal
      
      Plagiarism is not infringement if it is plagiarism of a public domain work, therefore infringement does not always apply to make it illegal.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 2:06pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Question...
        Good point. Didn't think about that one.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 2:57pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      It's more that it's important for people to understand the distinction. There is a common, and entirely fallacious, belief that copyright is mostly about protecting a creator's moral rights and ensuring they get attribution and credit -- but it's not, at least not in the US. It's solely about economic rights and attribution/plagiarism doesn't enter into it. (On the flipside, some people believe that as long as you credit someone, what you are doing is less likely to be infringing - and again that's simply not true.)
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Richard (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 4:44am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      But what you are saying effectively is that plagiarism is infringement but not all infringement is plagiarism
      
      Plagiarism is not necessarily infringement - if you plagiarise from the public domain then that is fine by copyright.
      
      So not all plagiarism is infringement and not all infringement is plagiarism - they are separate concepts.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Sheogorath (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 12:20am
    
    Re: Re: Question...
    Plagiarism is likely to be infringement [...]
    Really? So if I copy something suitably vague by Shakespeare and cause others to believe I've written it, then I've infringed copyright? Please remind me exactly how that works again, will you? *rolls eyes*
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Leigh Beadon (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 8:16am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Question...
      I think it goes without saying that I am talking about plagiarism of something still covered by copyright. No need for the eye-rolls, calm down.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Sheogorath (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 1:10pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Question...
        I think it goes without saying that I am talking about plagiarism of something still covered by copyright.
        To someone new to this site who's skipped straight to the comments? Not necessarily. And yes, it does happen.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 8:50am

Good News
If copying the 'feel' of another song means what I think it means, then every hip-hop song can be eliminated with the exception of the original hip-hop song. To my ear, they all sound the same.

Of course, that is exactly what my parents probably said about rock and roll, even as they held parties where they they 'taught' other old folks to do the twist.

Oh wait...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:00am
  
  Re: Good News
  And hip-hop itself is derived from other styles of music. If copying the "feel" of a song isn't allowed, then pretty nearly all music in existence is in violation.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mason Wheeler (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:05am
  
  Re: Good News
  And the original rap song was actually a country song, based on the style of an Irish reel. (No, seriously. Just listen, and tell me that's not exactly what it is.)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Richard (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 4:45am
  
  Re: Good News
  then every hip-hop song can be eliminated with the exception of the original hip-hop song. To my ear, they all sound the same
  
  Thar would be wonderful! Please let it happen!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Leigh Beadon (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 8:20am
    
    Re: Re: Good News
    Why would that be wonderful?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Anonymous Coward, 14 Mar 2015 @ 12:30pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Good News
      Some people have yet to work out that they can listen to only the music that they like by stuffing in the ear buds.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2015 @ 1:00pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Good News
        And some people have yet to work out that they can both listen to the music they like and not annoy everyone else around them by stuffing in the ear buds.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - John Fenderson (profile), 16 Mar 2015 @ 8:38am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Good News
        I've never in my life understood why there are so many people who get outraged that music they dislike continues to exist.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Baron von Robber, 13 Mar 2015 @ 8:55am

Wish I had been on that jury. Similar, kinda, but not infringing. There are more tracks on "Blurred..", the bass line only plays the same for about 8 beats, but then goes off differently for the rest of the bar. And I only heard each song once for about 20 seconds....they are different.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 8:59am

Everybody needs to chill the f out on this, it's going to be overturned on appeal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:02am
  
  Re:
  I have hope that you are right, but even if it is there are plenty of reason to be upset about the ruling.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Votre (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:14am
  
  Re:
  Bingo!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Votre (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:23am
  
  Re:
  No. Everybody needs to get royally pissed and vocal about this - and stay royally pissed and vocal about it until it is overturned on appeal. And do it again every time another BS lawsuit like this one comes up.
  
  Especially now that misguided emotions and public opinion plays such a huge role in the outcome of so many of these so-called copyright cases.
  
  Now is not the time for silence just because you're personally tired of hearing about it. Go watch The Simpsons or something if you're bored. Maybe even order in a pizza while you're at it.
  
  Those of us with a stake in this game have too much to lose sitting quietly and hoping for the best.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:59am
  
  Re:
  Are you volunteering to pay their lawyers for the appeal?
  
  Are you volunteering to pay the lawyers for all the new artists that have a song idea but are now too afraid of getting sued to put it out there?
  
  That is the real harm here: not whether one musician has to pay off the greedy offspring of another musician. The harm is how this chills our culture and expression, that which makes us truly human. We're trading it away for some strange romantic notions while fat cats pile up weird bits of green paper.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JMT (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 10:59pm
  
  Re:
  Since the jury is supposed to be representative of society, we should be pretty upset that "society" is so damn ignorant of what copyright actually allows and restricts.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brent Ashley (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:01am

Get your headlines here
With the precedent of awarding damages for songs that simply feel similar, I expect these headlines soon:

Family of Muddy Waters Sues Entire 12-Bar Blues Music Industry

Every Country Star Sues Every Other Country Star

Three Chord Bands Bands All Sue Each Other

Nickelback Sues Nickelback
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Votre (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:25am
  
  Re: Get your headlines here
  Every jazz musician sues every other jazz musician.
  
  Blues musicians all sue each other - and everybody else that uses a I-IV-V chord progression or pentatonic riff.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 1:36pm
  
  Re: Get your headlines here
  they might get a lot of nickelsback too!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Dave (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 2:14pm
  
  Re: Get your headlines here
  ...and John Fogerty sues himself.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Reality bites, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:02am

The music mafia wins again. History shows Intimidation by paid enforcers always works.
Take a bribed deaf, dumb, inebriated puppet judge and use the dense prick as a sledge hammer to pound justice into the ground.

Until the mafia lighten up, no one should purchase a album except by direct purchasing from the artist.

Time to start the parasites out of existence.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Roger Strong (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:03am

Samizdat Culture
In the near future, to avoid copyright trolls, music publishing will require anonymity using services like Tor and BitCoin.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
AnonCow, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:22am

In light of the obvious mistake made by the jury, the judge should have set aside their verdict and made a judgment notwithstanding verdict.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:24am

You can't take it with you when you die...oh wait!
My momma always said that I can't take anything with me when I die. Well I fooled her, I am taking my copyrights with me for another 70 years!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
jupiterkansas (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:31am

The goal of art is not to create something new and original. The goal of art is to contribute something to the conversation. Every contribution enhances the conversation and if enough people contribute, it becomes a piece of culture. That's what made rock and roll a thing - lots of people doing it - and now rock and roll is a part of culture.

All the new and original stuff does is change the conversation, which is what makes the new and original stuff important. Most art does not do this.

And in today's world of pop culture, much of that conversation revolves around the copyrighted content of others. That's why having a robust public domain is necessary. Copyright stifles the conversation we call culture for the sake of profit.

The ridiculous thing is that if Thicke really wanted to copy Marvin Gaye, he could have easily just paid a licensing fee to do a cover like lots of artists do. The fact that he didn't shows that he wasn't intending to copy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2015 @ 6:39pm
  
  Re:
  I still think we should sue Alan Thicke for reproducing Robin Thicke.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:33am

Who pays the lawsuit???
I really don't know much about this stuff but I'm confused on who pays the suit. Williams and Thicke wrote the song but I'm assuming a label published and distributed the 'infringing' song.
Wouldn't the label be responsible since they act as the agent of and probably took the lion's share of profits on any infringement?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:39am

This "Blurred Line" song (which I've just heard for the first time) sounds an awful lot like Bowie's TVC 15, don't you think?
It also reminds me of something from Prince, but I don't know what.
So I suppose they should be made to pay these artists too.

Honestly, this is just insane.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- jupiterkansas (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:01am
  
  Re:
  Every time I hear Blurred Lines, I get TVC15 stuck in my head for days.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:51am

Interesting next question
Weird Al, somewhat famously, makes sure to get permission to do his parodies

Except here, he got permission from someone who does not actually own the intellectual property. While he probably could have argued fair use, the fact he got a license looks bad, at least as far as maximalists are concerned. Is he now also liable for infringement, or does the fact he reasonably believed that he got the licence from the right people protect him?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 10:36am
  
  Re: Interesting next question
  Fair use protects him. He only gets permission for social reasons.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 2:12pm
    
    Re: Re: Interesting next question
    There are other reasons. Despite being protected by fair use, getting permission tends to keep a lawsuit from even being filed regardless of whether he is protected by fair use or not.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Mike Masnick (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 4:59pm
    
    Re: Re: Interesting next question
    Fair use protects him. He only gets permission for social reasons.
    
    Here's the thing: fair use doesn't protect him here. Because the copyright is owned by the Gayes. Blurred Lines itself is infringing and he made a copy of that infringing work. Thus, in this case, fair use *doesn't* work. That's how fucked up this ruling is.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - John Fenderson (profile), 16 Mar 2015 @ 8:40am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Interesting next question
      Good point. Perhaps I should have said "fair used protected him".
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:52am

Can't wait until publisher sues artists for similar work by same artist
It seems to me this will devolve into the publisher directly suing the artists for releasing/performing subsequent songs that are two similar to previous songs by the same artist.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:37am
  
  Re: Can't wait until publisher sues artists for similar work by same artist
  Don't give them ideas on how they can keep even more of the Money earnt by an artists.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:58am
  
  Re: Can't wait until publisher sues artists for similar work by same artist
  Didn't that happen already to John Fogerty?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Steve, 13 Mar 2015 @ 9:53am

Techno!
Jesus. That means the techno scene totally screwed as that stuff all sounds the same to me!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2015 @ 10:05am

Sigh... Best thing about the "Blurred Lines"
song is the brunette in the unrated video. And considering that the lyrics to almost any song can be sung to the notes of almost any other song, the case is rather obviously invalid. Hopefully, the appeals will go the right way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
TheResidentSkeptic (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 10:47am

folk songs/rock songs/choir
So when the youth choirs of the 70s were singing Amazing Grace over House of the Rising Sun, should the Animals have sued God?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Richard (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 5:02am
  
  Re: folk songs/rock songs/choir
  So when the youth choirs of the 70s were singing Amazing Grace over House of the Rising Sun, should the Animals have sued God?
  
  No because House of the Rising Sun is itself a traditional song and in the public domain.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
ribeekah, 13 Mar 2015 @ 10:58am

THE MONETIZATION OF ALL THINGS
Well, well, when we don't pay attention to what is happening around us and think that they are unrelated, everything eventually comes full circle. For the longest while, there has been an ongoing debate about GMO foods and Monsanto, et al desire to control the food system although they are yet to invent a seed out of thin air. A biomedical company has won the right to certain genes. And that's what I know about or has been reported in the news. This is just the latest development in the metamorphosis of rapacious capitalism.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mason Wheeler (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:12am

You know, this kinda reminds me of a different song in a different genre. Alan Jackson's country hit The Talkin' Song Repair Blues is obviously, blatantly "inspired by"/"in the style of" Johnny Cash's Hot Rod Lincoln. But do you know what the Cash estate did when Alan Jackson released the song?

Nothing. More specifically, they did not sue Alan Jackson or his record label and try to interfere with the success of his song. And why should they? Hot Rod Lincoln was a song from decades ago; it was no longer current, not bringing in any money from record sales. Even assuming a favorable legal theory, what was there to interfere with?

Just saying...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- JP Jones (profile), 16 Mar 2015 @ 1:38pm
  
  Re:
  There's a bigger fallacy at issue here. Even if they could compete, the only situation where this would have been an issue for Johnny Cash's estate is if someone heard Alan Jackson's song and then decided NOT to buy Johnny Cash's song because they'd bought Alan Jackson.
  
  Why would this happen? If someone liked the Alan Jackson song there's a good chance they'd like Johnny Cash's song too, which means Alan Jackson's song increases the likelihood of a Johnny Cash purchase. If they weren't going to buy the Cash song anyway, either because it's not selling anymore, they hadn't heard it, or a myriad of other reasons, then Cash's estate hasn't lost anything.
  
  The chances of similar songs harming either artist is much less likely than the opposite. You see this most commonly in Hip-Hop and Rap music when "competing" artists make group songs. Rather than dilute or harm their music, these artists recognize that including other musicians in their music brings groups of fans together, which potentially increases the revenue for all involved.
  
  Art and culture are not scarce resources, and the more people involved the more valuable they become. This is why a video game that allows modding is more valuable than one that doesn't, and why movies, books, and shows that incorporate pop-culture references draw such big crowds. People love the shared culture and are drawn to it. People also love the familiar, and enjoy slight changes to an old favorite. Treating culture like coal or tables (scarce resources) simply doesn't make sense and makes it less valuable.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2015 @ 6:42pm
    
    Re: Re:
    shows that incorporate pop-culture references draw such big crowds
    In that case I'm waiting for every single artist/TV network/movie producer/actor/detergent brand on earth to file a class-action suit against Seth MacFarlane.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
John85851 (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 11:47am

"Feels" wrong
I think the bigger issue is how juries (and judges) punish people when they "feel" something is wrong, as in: Thicke and Williams must have done something wrong or they wouldn't be here, so we have to punish them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Calvin (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 1:22pm

A Good Decision
We can all sleep easy now that we know Marvin Gaye will be 'encouraged' to write and sing a lot more new songs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MadAsASnake (profile), 13 Mar 2015 @ 2:26pm

Now, I wonder how many law suits can be leveled against the Gaye estate because of the tracks Gaye used as inspiration.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
darren squires (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 1:53am

Thin end of the wedge
Now that musical copyright law seems to have shifted to include the" feel and style" It going to be open season on Will Pharrell. He has the reputation of looking like a bit of an idiot in those big hats. How long before he gets sued by Jamiroquai ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Leigh Beadon (profile), 14 Mar 2015 @ 8:19am
  
  Re: Thin end of the wedge
  Will Pharrell? I think you are confusing the actor and the producer :P
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2015 @ 6:44pm
  
  Re: Thin end of the wedge
  The members of Monty Python will come to his defense, though. After all, they successfully argued in 1983 that people weren't wearing enough hats.
  
  Although I wouldn't count out an amicus brief from the estate of Dr. Seuss.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Knud Sandbæk Nielsen, 14 Mar 2015 @ 12:56pm

Patented scale
There was a law suit in Denmark. It wwas about a song with the first four notes in a minor scale. 1234321, or i.e. a b c d c b a. There was a settlement.

This is outrageous, because they actually settled the case over what has been used in the 16th century, and thus should be impossible to patent.

I would like to have been a consultant in all that kind of cases, because I know I can shoot down all claims of originality.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
trparky (profile), 15 Mar 2015 @ 2:50pm

Somehow... I don't care.
If you ask me, the music industry hasn't made anything remotely close to original or decent in the last twenty years. All of it has been nothing but cheap pop songs that last on the Top 20 List for maybe a week or two, and then... onto the next pop song craze. None of it will ever stand the test of time.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Fenderson (profile), 16 Mar 2015 @ 3:15pm
  
  Re: Somehow... I don't care.
  There's a lot more to the music industry than what is produced by the major labels, played on the radio, or listed in the various "top" lists. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]