The Latest Hitmaker to be Accused of Plagiarism is Bruno Mars
In light the successful prosecution of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” for being too derivative of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” other older acts may be thinking that they’re due some retribution, too. The latest target is Bruno Mars/Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” which, in case you’ve already forgotten, won Record of Year the Grammys.
First, let’s acknowledge that Bruno, Mark, et al, already gave pre-emptive songwriting credits to The Gap Band, Trinidad James and producer Devon Gallaspy. Now a group from the late 7os called The Sequence is letting their grumpiness be known over what they feel is appropriation of their song, “Funk You Up.” Let’s take a listen.
https://youtu.be/F_gF1v1xZDc
Now “Uptown Funk.”
Thoughts? No lawsuit has been filed yet, but the story is out there. More at UPROXX.
Maybe they’ve simply realized that all funk sounds the same? That’s my takeaway…
Normally I’d be like, “What? That doesn’t even resemble the melody of Uptown Funk, nor the signature bassline.” But after the Blurred Lines case, where they lost because of the “feel”, anything goes with that kind of wide open precedent. While we’re at it, every Lumineers song ripped off Rainbow Connection.
What about “Jungle Love” by the Time? Listen to that chorus and try not to sing Morris Day over it.
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