Quote:How Similar Is Too Similar?
What do Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams owe to Marvin Gaye? Post published by Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis Ph.D. on Mar 12, 2015
Does the song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams sound similar to Marvin Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up?” Does it sound so similar that it actually represents copyright infringement? Today, a jury of eight said yes. But a team of psychologists, computer scientists, and musicologists who gathered recently (link is external) at the Lorentz Center in Netherlands for a workshop on musical similarity might provide a more nuanced answer: it’s complicated.
Perceptions of musical similarity depend heavily on context. To a person who grew up listening only to classical music, all pop music might sound more or less the same. But to a devoted fan, even every Taylor Swift song might sound thrillingly unique. Similarity isn’t a fixed measure; depending on their listening backgrounds, two people might perceive the same pair of excerpts as highly similar or highly dissimilar.
The ways in which two pieces can be alike are almost innumerable: they might have similar instrumentation, or rhythm, or notes, or expressive timing, or performer inflections, or form…yet determining which of these elements are essential to a particular piece is challenging. Is Postmodern Jukebox’s (link is external) version of All About That Bass the same song as Meghan Trainor’s (link is external)?...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/loo...oo-similar
Psychology Today gets into the act. Huh? Seems like an odd question with respect to copyright.
