Uptown Funk Lawsuit

[TyBo]

Bruno Mars is being sued for copyright infringement over his (and Mark Ronson's) Grammy winning song "Uptown Funk". The suit is by a group called Collage, who had a 1983 song called "Young Girls" with a very similar rhythm track and chord structure to Mars' "Funk". Bruno Mars Sued For Stealing "Uptown Funk"

I can sort of see where they're coming from, kind of, a little bit, there are definite similarities ... but is it really the same song? Is it the same melody? Is it the same background theme? It seems as though the burden of proof in these cases is becoming less stringent, so it may be that they'll win or get a settlement, we'll see. I know that I much prefer Bruno's thing, in any case ...

Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"



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Mark Ronson's official music video for 'Uptown Funk' ft. Bruno Mars. Click to listen to Mark Ronson on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/MarkRonsonSpotify?IQid=MarkRUF As ...


Collage - "Young Girls"



Collage - Young Girls
www.youtube.com
From the 1983 album 'Get In Touch'

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

 

[grrg63]

I hear slight similarity in some of the

guitar licks & tone
background synth tone
drum rhythm

None of which should be actionable IMO. Its inevitable and logical for musicians to be influenced by music they hear that was produced by other musicians. I think only cases of blatant copying should be considered. I dont think this comes anywhere near to qualifying as that.

 

[DWBass]

Agreed. This is getting ridiculous!!

 

[callofcthulhu]

I agree, all pop music sounds the same.

Hopefully blurred lines was the first in a domino chain that will result in the mainstream music industry finally imploding.

The wyrm has caught its own tail, now we just play the waiting game.

 

[INTP]

You guys are too quick to dismiss this one. I can easily hear that they're both in 4/4 time. Clearly a direct copy.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

This sounds the same in the sense that a lot of hair metal bands sounds the same. There are similar production and stylistic ques but that's about it.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

That collage song sounds like Prince (RIP) to me.

 

[FilterFunk]

That collage song sounds like Prince (RIP) to me.

The Prince estate could sue all of 'em!

 

[scatman]

Don Was's 'Walk The Dinosaur' sounds like the Collage track

Both Collage, Was and Bruno all have rhythmic elements of Al Hudson and One Way's "You Can Do It!"

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Bruno already paid out at least two other artists prior to releasing "Uptown Funk" so he certainly knows that it borrows from other artists/sounds. I don't have time to listen to the Collage track right now though.

 

[Odinbass]

No effing way. They are both funk songs. That's about it. This crap is getting out of hand.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I think you have to look outside of just the music. One of the issues that gave me more pause with Zep was the fact that the bands were touring together, and therefore would have had more chance to hear the song again and again. In this case there is a similarity of some things, but all songs in a genre sound similar.

 

[wraub]

Don Was's 'Walk The Dinosaur' sounds like the Collage track

Both Collage, Was and Bruno all have rhythmic elements of Al Hudson and One Way's "You Can Do It!"

This x lots.

 

[Ewo]

I figured there'd be some fallout from the #@@@#!!-ed up verdict in the Blurred Lines case...

What's next--Dick Dale sues the Ramones for infringement because both surf music and punk use a lotta eighth notes? Sheesh...

 

[yodedude2]

my sweet lord

 

[Russtyslapnpop]

No way dude first 2 seconds but nothing like uptown funk
Alot better hahaha
Funky as digging it

 

[azfatboy]

Those idiots in "collage" should be humiliated. It's not even close. I am irritated that I had to give that crappy youtube video another "view"...

 

[morgansterne]

Don Was's 'Walk The Dinosaur' sounds like the Collage track

I always sing "open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur" during the horn part in "uptown funk," as I've always thought that track was a bit of a was (not was) ripoff.

incidentally I still have that was (not was) album on a cassette somewhere, it's really good.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I'm pretty sure we're all opposed to true plagiarism, but it's getting to the point where you can't put together a new song that's reasonably pleasing to the ear without trodding on somebody's copyright, or at least without your song bearing some passing resemblance to a previously copyrighted song.