The "Blurred Lines" Copyright Issue

       A couple of weeks ago in class, we discussed the “Blurred Lines” copyright issue. We listened to clips of the songs “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and Pharrel Williams and “Got to Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye side by side to determine if we thought the songs were a bit too similar and if it really was an issue of plagiary. The jury who was deciding the verdict; however, was supposed to make this decision based only upon sheet music of both songs. But with only a number of chords out there to work with, the line between whether or not a song is "plagiarizing" or not becomes very thin. 

       The whole discussion in class reminded me of a video I had seen a couple of years ago. A comedy rock band “Axis of Awesome” performed a funny skit in which they demonstrate how so many of our beloved pop songs are, in fact, just made up of the same four chords. It's pretty eye-opening. Here’s the video: 

       I was amazed when I first watched the skit. All of these songs can be played using only four chords, but are all widely accepted as totally different songs. But isn't it the artist's spin on these same four chords really what makes each song unique? The court ruling seemed to suggest otherwise, since Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke now owe 7.3 million dollars to the Gaye estate on the grounds of copyright infringement. The reason I take issue with the verdict is that there seems to be no clear line between taking inspiration from an artist and actually copying an entire song. “Got to Give It Up” and “Blurred Lines” may sound similar, but so does every pop song!