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In the months following a ruling that determined Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” in their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines”, many have questioned how the case will affect future compositions.
In speaking with The Financial Times in March, Williams said the decision “handicaps” any artist who makes something out of inspiration of a previous creation. “If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation,” he said.
Last month, British music producer Mark Ronson added an additional five writing credits to his chart-topping hit “Uptown Funk” in response to The Gap Band claiming similarities between the track and their 1979 funk anthem “Oops, Up Side Your Head.”
So has the “Blurred Lines” case forever altered the music business for musicians? The answer, according to legendary musician-producer Nile Rodgers, is no.
“This is what we do as musicians. We listen to other people’s music, we get inspired,” Rodgers told The Huffington Post prior to performing at the annual Apollo Theater Spring Gala earlier this week. “Sometimes we do direct interpolations. And in that case, if there’s a real legal argument there, they probably should have – meaning Pharrell, T.I., and Robin [Thicke] – probably should have copy written it as an interpolation. Because yes, the intro is close, but the intro is not the song,” he added.
