After a Los Angeles jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give it Up” and awarded the singer’s estate $7.4 million, Washington Post music critic Chris Richards warned: “Let us swiftly prepare for every idiom of popular music to go crashing into juridical oblivion.”
Whether you think the verdict in the case is bad for pop music or not – it gives a whole new meaning to “tone policing,” does it not? – the publicity and talk surrounding the case already has folks in the music industry citing other instances of songs that could have been ripped off, if not altogether copied.
To wit: Producer Jermaine Dupri recently pointed out that Ciara’s new single “I Bet” sounds suspiciously similar to Usher’s 2001 hit “U Got it Bad.” He’s planning to contact Ciara and her producers to ask for credit on “I Bet” for himself, Usher and fellow producer Bryan-Michael Cox, who collaborated on the track.
“Ciara’s new single is a complete rip-off of Usher’s ‘U Got It Bad,’” Dupri said in an interview with the Associated Press after the decision in the “Blurred Lines” case. “I’m clear on what I made, and I’m clear on how music influences people, and I’m clear on chord changes and how people move things. ... It might not be as evident as the ‘Blurred Lines’ situation, but I believe the same thing happened to me.”
In a separate case, settled for an amount that wasn’t disclosed, the Gaye estate also sued over similarities between Thicke’s and Gaye’s work on two other songs, arguably more pronounced than the similar “vibes” of “Got to Give it Up” and “Blurred Lines.” That time, Gaye’s estate was suing Gaye’s publisher, EMI, for failing to protect his copyright. EMI April manages both the Thicke and Gaye copyrights, and the Gayes argued that EMI failed to protect Gaye’s intellectual property because of a conflict of interest. Their suit claimed Thicke had a “Marvin Gaye fixation.”
According to Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411, when “Million Dolla Baby” was initially released on “Sex Therapy,” the songwriting credits on the album went to Andre Harrell and Thicke. They’re still listed as the composers of “Million Dolla Baby” on the album credits at AllMusic.com. However, Gaye is listed as the sole composer on the ASCAP site, which may have been a result of the settlement. Thicke also may have largely escaped public scrutiny over “Million Dolla Baby” because it never enjoyed the ubiquitous success of “Blurred Lines,” allowing the similarities to go unnoticed by many.
Was Thicke merely influenced by Gaye, or just plain pilfering?
In the same case, the Gaye estate also sued EMI for failing to protect Gaye’s copyright for “After the Dance,” alleging Thicke ripped it off to make “Love After War.”
Dupri might be taking action to defend “U Got it Bad,” but it appears the Gayes are resting their case for now. Despite widespread reports last week that the family was examining similarities between Williams’s “Happy” and Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar,” they have no further plans for legal action.
“The Gaye family are taking a breath following the verdict, and several of the family members have already indicated publicly that they presently have no plans to level a new action,” Paul Philips, Marvin Gaye III’s attorney, told Mashable. “Reports to the contrary, and I know there are quite a few of them, didn’t come from the Gayes, who never invited this litigation in the first place.”
