Burt Bacharach, a veteran songwriter, has demanded that there be a change in how music plagiarism is judged. He claims that, with so few notes and the use of only one octave, it becomes likely that some sort of similarities will be evident between different songs, even unintentionally. Bacharach believes a more suitable way to judge plagiarism in the music industry would be to have a few musically experienced judges who decide which is plagiarism.
This subject has become apparent with recent high-profile lawsuits in the United States. Not only has Ed Sheeran had to settle for £13.8 million after a copy right infringement claim against his song ‘Photograph’, but Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have also been prosecuted for copying Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Got To Give It Up’. In which, the Gaye family estate earned £4.8 million.
Bacharach is not necessarily saying everyone who has been prosecuted is actually in the right, but that, with all the other disputes within the music industry, including downloading songs, and obtaining songs for free, the copyright law is something that could be positively affected by change.
