Content Ownership and Copyright

Content Ownership and Copyright — page 1 — CHAPTER 1 PROTECTING CREATIVE EFFORTS Marvin Gaye was a legendary singer and songwriter in the 1960s Marvin and 1970s Many of his hits remained popular for decades In 1977 Gaye wrote and produced Got to Give It Up which hit Number 1 on American charts Years later in 2015 the song gained renewed media interest when it became part of a federal court case Many people found the 2013 hit song Blurred Lines controversial because of its subject matter and video But from a legal standpoint the song was controversial because of its musical similarity to Gaye's Got to Give It Up Singer Robin Thicke and songwriter Pharrell Williams claimed Gaye's work had inspired their song Thicke recalled telling Williams We should make something like that something with that groove Gaye's children who had inherited rights to his songs after his death in 1984 threatened legal action against Thicke and Williams for copyright infringement Copyright infringement Blurred Lines by Pharrell Williams left and Robin Thicke right led many to question the line between inspiration infringement and

Content Ownership and Copyright — page 2

Content Ownership and Copyright — page 3 — Consequences of Blurred Lines The 7 4-million-dollar settlement in the Blurred Lines case was one of the largest of its kind but that was not the most important issue to many people in the music industry The larger issue was what might happen as a consequence of the ruling against Thicke and Williams Some critics of the verdict argued that most popular songs rely on borrowed sounds and elements from other songs They pointed out that sometimes innovation depends on creative copying They expressed concern that the verdict might limit creativity in music by preventing new songs from referencing older classics As Williams commented The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something that might be inspired by something else 3 occurs when people make unauthorized use of material protected by copyright In turn Thicke and Williams sued Gaye’s heirs claiming their song was different from Got to Give It Up A US district court heard the case Jurors were instructed to compare the songs only on the basis of their sheet music versions The jury determined Blurred Lines infringed on the copyright to Gaye’s music but that Thicke and Williams had not willfully or intentionally copied Gaye’s song The jury awarded Gaye’s children nearly 7 4 million 2 Legal experts and many musicians felt the verdict confused inspiration for infringement They argued that although elements of a musical composition are protected by copyright a general style a groove as Thicke put it is not 6

Content Ownership and Copyright — page 4 — Marvin Gaye’s family stood by their belief that Blurred Lines infringed on the late singer’s copyrighted work The case reveals that US copyright laws are extremely complex Some people feel the laws are necessary to protect content ownership and promote the progress of human knowledge Other people feel the laws hinder creativity rather than encourage it 7

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