When a new song sounds similar to an old one, is it stealing? Let’s investigate

I’m constantly getting emails from people that read something like this: “Hey, don’t you think [song title by artist] sounds just like [song title by artist]. What a rip-off!”

In most case, my reply is “Yeah, maybe. But there are only twelve notes in the Western scale and a finite number of ways they can be strung together in a manner that’s pleasing to the ear. And if you reduce things even further to the styles inherent in rock, pop, or any other specific genre, it’s even harder to be completely original. Chord progressions (which includes guitar riffs) cannot be copyrighted because they form the building blocks of any composition. And given that rock and pop have been around for almost 70 years, it’s extremely hard to be truly original.”

That being said, there are cases where, well, someone should look into the situation. Is this theft? Copyright infringement? Plagiarism? Rick Beato has done just that. Watch. (Via Rick J)