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Exactly, otherwise every pop & punk artist would be sue by the first acts on the scene. lol
Meh, they have their similarities but it's getting kind of ridiculous now.
I hate hate HATE music thieves (still won't listen to Led Zep, who I consider the greatest cover band of all time), but to have a passing similarity to a previous song... where does it end? Nothing is 100% original.
I hate hate HATE music thieves (still won't listen to Led Zep, who I consider the greatest cover band of all time), but to have a passing similarity to a previous song... where does it end? Nothing is 100% original.
this. yes!anything that stops or delays bruno mars from putting out more music would make me and my ears happy. oh snap!
Yup, there will be more and more of these lawsuits, the gift from the Blurred Lines decision that keeps on giving.
Don't believe me, just watch!
Don't believe me, just watch!
You guys saying they don't sound the same must be listening to something else... Those could practically be 2 takes for the same song using different lyrics.
The rhythms are near identical aside from a few random things. Like has been said tons of pop music sounds the same so its not like this should surprise anyone.
The rhythms are near identical aside from a few random things. Like has been said tons of pop music sounds the same so its not like this should surprise anyone.
The only part that even is close is the intro of the collage song where the bass slides on the one, and the little guitar part is the same/similar to a guitar part in uptown.
So....one measure is worth a lawsuit???
So....one measure is worth a lawsuit???
Not even close to identical. It's entirely possible that Bruno Mars heard the Collage song at some time in the past, but just having heard something and possibly being influenced by it is not the same thing as plagiarism. I would say the groove sounds similar, but certainly not the same thing.
It's the same basic rhythm ... but is that now going to be grounds for copyright infringement? If so, that seems quite problematic going forward, leaves little room for anything that's not wholly new, which the vast majority of things are not. The guitar sound is a fairly generic (though very effective) "funk" lick, doesn't seem unique to either the Collage track or Bruno Mars' track.
The other thing is that "Uptown Funk" has a LOT of rhythmic emphasis that "Young Girls" does not - grooves like a mofo (which is why it gets played everywhere, to the point that even I'm tired of it at the moment) - unlike the Collage track, which is ... meh.
The melodies are not all that similar, which used to count for a lot in these suits. Doesn't seem to be the case anymore. When George Harrison lost for ripping off "He's So Fine" from the Chiffons, he basically just lifted the entire melody, lock stock, and barrel. Now that's copyright infringement! This case is nowhere near that level of similarity.
If we apply a standard that because the beat and "feel" are similar, it's plagiarism, well, Buddy Holly couldn't have written "Not fade Away", one of his classics, in this climate - or couldn't have claimed ownership of it anyway. Hey, that's the "Bo Diddley beat"! Lawsuit! (In fact, "Not Fade Away" is probably a lot closer to "Bo Diddley" than Bruno Mars is to the cr*ppy Collage song). This is a really effed up trend we're seeing.
Bruno Mars is good at ripping off enough things and putting them in song, but I think it's more tribute territory than copyright infringement. "Locked Out of Heaven" verses are directly from the Police, but not really any one song (that I can think of).
I think it is very similar as well. Not sure if there is merit to a lawsuit, but the songs are similar. I am old enough to remember the original. When I first heard the Bruno Mars tune, I immediately thought he was sampling the 80's version.
Bassline's different. Chords are different. Melody's different. NOTHING the same other than the most basic of guitar riffs...that has been used and used and used ad infinity....
I'm all for suing Bruno Mars for dressing like an extra from a bad Miami Vice remake but, as uninteresting as I think his music is, this latest case is just silly. This will be good practice for Mars though, cause Roger Troutman's estate will be on the doorstep any minute now. 
Very bad precedents being set with many of these kinds of cases. It has direct fallout on people in the industry(and related industries) in many ways, not the least of which is potentially stifling creativity. I feel it personally in what it simply costs me to run my business. I work a lot in the music for advertising world. In order to even be considered for working with the medium to bigger agencies these days you have to maintain E&O/professional liability insurance in case of perceived copyright infringement. And, you have to maintain A LOT of insurance---costs me a big chunk of change. The amount of coverage required keeps ratcheting up year after year. Of course, some of the blame goes to actual cases of clearly blatant soundalikes/ripoffs that some fools at an agency set loose into the world(that's a whole 'nuther thread right there....), but a lot of it goes to these kinds of cases.
