How Siar Is ‘Blurred L’ To A 1977 Marv Gaye H? – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE
• ‘BLURRED L’ INGED ON MARV GAYE COPYRIGHT, JURY RUL
• MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY
• HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?
• ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'

MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE

Compare and ntrast the two songs by listeng to the troductn to Blurred L, by Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams followed by the openg sectn of Marv Gaye's Got to Give Up.

3 ln judgment agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams for pyg a Marv Gaye song to create their 2013 smash “Blurred L.

Circu Court of Appeals said Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up” served “broad” pyright protectn, and the March 2015 jury verdict favor of Gaye’s three children uld stand bee there was “not an absolute absence of evince” of siary between the two songs. Circu Judge Milan Smh also upheld an award of 50 percent of future royalti om “Blurred L” to the Gay. Who add a verse to “Blurred L, ” should not be had award the Gay $7.

‘BLURRED L’ INGED ON MARV GAYE COPYRIGHT, JURY RUL

And Interspe should be liable, but the appeals urt “Blurred L” se has transfixed the mic dtry, promptg bate over the le between plagiarism and honorg works by popular artists like Gaye, whose songs also clu “I Heard It Through the Grapeve” and “What’s Gog On. Wednday’s cisn prompted a strong dissent om Circu Judge Jacquele Nguyen, who said the cisn let the Gay “acplish what no one has before: pyright a mil style, ” and expand the potential for further pyright ligatn.

“We are thrilled, ” Richard Bch, the Gay’ lawyer, said an terview.

”Two of Gaye’s children, Frankie and Nona, lled the cisn “a victory for the rights of all micians.

MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY

”Williams, whose songs also clu “Happy, ” admted urt to beg a Gaye fan sce childhood but said “Blurred L” and “Got to Give Up” were siar genre has terviews acknowledged drawg on Gaye’s song but mataed sworn statements that he exaggerated his ntributn to “Blurred L.

AdvertisementSKIP McCarten/RtersMarch 10, 2015For the last year and a half, the mic dtry has been gripped by a lawsu over whether Rob Thicke’s 2013 h “Blurred L” was merely remiscent of a song by Marv Gaye, or had crossed the le to plagiarism. A feral jury Los Angel on Tuday agreed that “Blurred L” had gone too far, and pied elements of Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up” whout permissn. Gaye’s and Frankie Gaye, two of Marv Gaye’s children, are to receive $4 ln damag pl about $3.

HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?

Bch, a lawyer for the Gaye fay, portrayed the lg as a refutatn of that view. ”For the fay of Marv Gaye — who died 1984 — the jury’s verdict was wele.

Williams sued first, seekg a claratn om a judge to protect them agast gement claims that they said had been ma privately by the Gaye fay. Nona and Frankie Gaye quickly the verdict was read on Tuday, members of the Gaye fay — who were prent at urt throughout the trial — exulted and shed tears of joy. “I’m really grateful, ” said Janis Gaye, Marv’s former wife and the mother of Nona and Frankie Gaye.

ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'

”A rrectn was ma onMarch 13, 2015: An article on Wednday about the pyright gement trial volvg the song “Blurred L” referred imprecisely to the damag award to the fay of Marv Gaye. 4m damag bee of pyright gement, due to the siari between “Blurred L” and Marv Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up. Per the verdict of the California jury that’s been hearg the se, Thicke’s “rapey” anthem “Blurred L” is a direct rip-off of Gaye’s “Got to Give Up.

” The lg after nearly two years of odd ligatn, om Thicke tryg to preemptively sue the Gaye tate to this actual glor urt the payment uld’ve been avoid had Thicke and Williams read our gui to gettg away wh pop plagiarism, I thought would be bt to look at om a ntral standpot based only on the actual mic, given how this lg uld tablish a dangero theory analyz mic specific ways — the rhythm, the harmony, and the melody. From a purely scientific standpot, here’s how the two songs groove is siar, but the rhythms are ’s a big nce here: Williams’ beat was clearly fluenced by Gaye’s. That don’t provi enough grounds for anythg on s own, though, otherwise every poser who wrote a march the past century ow John Philip Souza, who posed everythg om “Stars and Strip Forever” to what most people thk of as the Monty Python theme, a ton of two songs aren’t actually rhythmilly siar beyond the beat: the lead vol l are far different, wh Thicke stickg to simple rhythms on beat while Gaye stunts his to off-beat not wh nsistent lengths.

They’re set different keys, wh Thicke’s song G major and Gaye’s A major — but even if they weren’t, Gaye’s posn still has a different set of chords and Thicke a clever twist that Gaye don’ are lerally only two chords “Blurred L”; a lot of people have appropriately labeled G to D, but ’s actually C/G to D.

If the siari chords are enough for the songwrers to owe Gaye, than Smokey Robson should hire a good lawyer; the chord progrsn to “Got To Give It Up” is monplace soul, and as the leadg Motown songwrer, Robson ed IV to V on several hs a before “Got to Give Up” was one on Earth would nfe the two melody, for all tents and purpos, is the aspect of songs most people notice first. (Another small nce: the bass Gaye’s work the same chromatic passg motn as the “hey, hey, hey” part, but I don’t thk the urt was lg that the fill Gaye plays on synth bass was ripped off by three of “hey”. It’s actually a perfect vehicle to show off Gaye’s voice; the n is challengg by self, and he routely jumps up and down four sle not — no easy feat for an untraed volist.

The pentasle) put more digtible terms: Thicke’s vol performance is parable to Rgo Starr’s “Yellow Submare, ” and Marv Gaye was one of soul mic’s greatt talents bee of vol parts like “Got To Give It Up. Throwg asi that Marv Gaye’s song is nearly three tim as long as “Blurred L, ” ’s still obv that the melodi, harmoni, chord progrsns, and rhythms are different. Thicke’s real mistake may have been name-checkg Gaye multiple terviews, which enabled the Gaye fay to ph even harr.

Composer, arranger, and thor Richard Nil, PhD., talks about the signifince of the pyright claim agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred L” and victor lawsu om the Marv Gaye tate. But when the Marv Gaye tate was victor s claim that the Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred L” had ged the pyright of Marv Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up, ” sent rippl through the mic dtry.

This is why, like many others, I never believed the Gaye tate would w. Still, while ncedg that “Blurred L” did not py any of Gaye’s melodi or lyrics, the urt neverthels led that the siary of the “feel” of the rhythm sectn was sufficient grounds for a cisn of pyright gement. ” After the Gaye cisn, the orchtrator might expect cred and royalti as a -poser.

The tchy brass troductn to “Dancg the Street” was not wrten by the song’s creded songwrers, Marv Gaye, Mickey Stevenson, and Ivy Joe Hunter. But no one has mentned that the rhythm arrangement on “Got to Give It Up” was not wrten by Marv Gaye alone, though he owned the rights to acrdg to pyright law as terpreted at the time. Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke had a certified h on their hands wh 2013’s "Blurred L, " a Billboard Song of the Summer that seemed to many listeners to borrow om Marv Gaye’s qutsential 1977 h “Got To Give It Up.

” Of urse, Pharrell and Thicke disagreed wh that sentiment, and the pyright issue sent them to urt agast the Gaye tate. " The urt nfirmed that Gaye’s tate is entled to 50% of all royalti om that song forever. Wh the Circu Court fdg favor of the Gaye tate, means that artists might nsir errg on the si of utn and extreme due diligence when to the forc that lead to song or beat creatn.

Though some artists will say this is the end of pyright law as we know , the attorney for the Gaye tate poss that do not. Bee 's mighty difficult to listen to Stevie Wonr, Marv Gaye and Dnne Warwick your whole life and not some way be spired by their mic a way that might meld wh or fluence your own origal works later life. That's bee the song was excellent and will ntue to garner streams and sps, so Gaye’s fay stands to prof nsirably om the age and future age if the song ntu to circulate.