Robin Thicke, a popular R&B and pop singer, released his sixth studio album in the middle of July of this year. The album has eleven tracks, the most popular of which is blurred lines the leading single which shares the same name as the title of his album. Blurred lines has been a topic of discussion as of late, partly because it has been dubbed the “song of the summer” (I didn’t vote for it), but mostly because of its resemblance with Gota give it up.
Gota give it up is a pop/disco song released by Marvin Gaye in March of 1977. Upon its release, the song held the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 for an entire week.
Thicke’s launched a preemptive strike against Gaye’s family this past week, seeking a ruling from the US federal courts that the similarities between Blurred lines and Gota give it up are common musical elements.
I took the liberty to listen to both songs. The lyrics of the song are not a problem, and quite obviously neither is the recording. When it comes to the music of the song, I am slightly split on whether or not it infringes copyright. By no means do I think Thicke’s song is an exact copy of gota give it up, but at the same time I can imagine that gota give it up was a source of inspiration for Blurred Lines. The lawsuit was filed in the US, but if it were happening in the UK, the issue would be whether or not a significant part of gota give it up was copied. Based on that question, I can see a ruling in favor of either party.
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/08/19/213471083/robin-thickes-song-sounds-like-marvin-gaye-so-thicke-is-suing-gayes-family
Links to songs:
Blurred Lines: (Warning- lyrics may be explicit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5Liz-kFEU
Gota give it up (Warning- lyrics may be explicit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRcVQDELAd4
