Copyright infringement vs. inspiration: Which is which? (video & article)

Good artists borrow. Great artists steal. On Tuesday, a California federal jury delivered its own message to artists everywhere that inspiration can rise to copyright infringement. Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up." Ultimately, a jury comprised of five women and three men heard dueling opinions regarding "Blurred Lines" and decided to order Thicke and Williams to pay $4 million in copyright damages plus profits attributable to infringement, which for Thicke was determined to be $1.8 million and for Williams was determined to be $1.6 million. Both escaped statutory damages as the infringement was found not to be willful.

To demonstrate copyright infringement, Busch instead leaned on the musicologists, who testified of similarities in signature phrase, hook, keyboard-bass interplay, lyrics and theme of the songs. Although "Blurred Lines" was the headliner, the Gaye family also attempted to prove that Thicke's "Love After War" was an infringement of Gaye's "After the Dance" too.

All told, the Gaye family was seeking more than $25 million — a mammoth demand that would shatter the song plagiarism high-water mark of $5.4 million that a California court ordered Michael Bolton and Sony to pay two decades ago for infringing The Isley Brothers' "Love is a Wonderful Thing."

They got caught. Gotta pay up. Sometimes stealing/borrowing/mildly mimicking is not intentional. Seriously, how many keys are there on a piano? There is a great chance that someone somewhere has combined these notes before.

He's a liar & a cheat that threw Pharrell under the bus when things got hot. We see what happened to him. He's had no mega hits w/out using MG's work, & he's been in the business for over 15 yrs. Dude got desperate and stole.

He left the heirs no recourse but to countersue, because he struck 1st pre-emptively to appear legit. Pharrell borrows/steals heavily from musicians of that era, & Curtis Mayfield's kids may be gunning for him next. Here's an interesting fact, the jury found them guilty based off of sheet music for both of the songs, not the audio recording so it wasn't just an "ear test" for the jury. Greed and thinking they could get away with it made them lose out. How would they like like somebody taking their music and making millions off of it.

(Views above are from WWETV writer Michael Williams and doesn't necessarily correlate with all of the staff here at WWETV creative)

VERSUS

As you read my colleague above's argument that Pharrel Williams and Robin Thick stole the music of Marvin Gaye I am here to give you the opposite opinion. This verdict may set a very bad precedent in terms of creative freedom which may end up stifling evolution and progress of music from the best that ever did it. If you can't get inspiration from the artists who inspired the world than who can you get inspired from?

Not all musicians do straight up copying from other artists and sometimes people have the wrong idea on copyright and creative license. Many would consider Stevie Wonder one of the greatest minds and musicians ever in the field and here is what he had to say about this situation below in an interview with TMZ:

I guess Michael Jackson's kids are going to sue Chris Brown for "fine China", aerosmith suing Calvin Harris for "we'll be coming back", Madonna suing lady gaga for, well, everything, but not until Michael Jackson's kids sue her for "like a virgin" which is pretty much "billie Jean " in a major key. People need understand that the top forty is a genre in its own right. Just like how blues, reggae, rock and other genres have certain similarities that define them so do hits. When chorus rule that those defining elements are infringements you give them the ability to destroy an entire industry.

Wait till y'all, the Gaye family, and the rest of the world listen to Ed Sheeran's "Thinkin Out Loud" ( another #1song by a white soul singer) and realize that at some point he was influenced by Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". He may be safe since it's only in the chorus, but it is the same progression,and becomes more obvious at the end of the song. Even has similar back grounds as "Let's Get It On".

You want to talk about how he threw Pharrell under the bus? GOOD. I agree. He pulled the same thing Justin Timberlake did on Janet Jackson which is why I have practically zero respect for either of them. Then again even if he had his back it wouldn't change the verdict so that's a separate issue.

I don't agree with the verdict. Disco songs all have the same 4 on the floor beat/groove. They got found guilty on an interpolation, that's incredible when folks out here blatantly sampling. Dr.Dre had a lawsuit on an interpolation a while back from "Let's Get High" which interpolates Fatback's 'Backstrokin'.' Don't remember if he lost but that shit wasn't even a single.

You want to know why all these songs almost sound the same? They all use 4 chords!!

I wouldn't celebrate just yet. It's likely they will appeal the decision. The family will be lucky to get even half that amount in the end, if anything.

(Views above are from WWETV writer Sherry Carter and doesn't necessarily correlate with all of the staff here at WWETV creative)

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