In 2020, the Ninth Circuit famously found that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” was not an infringement on Spirit’s “Taurus,” and the decision included that they were tossing out the so-called “Inverse Ratio Rule.” And I applauded. But now I’m reconsidering. When I began to research new ideas about it, I was faced with my …

Basic facts and key questions surrounding Ed Sheeran’s “Let’s Get It On” vs. Marvin Gaye’s “Thinking Out Loud.” The Cheat Sheet. When and where is the trial? Lower Manhattan (the familiar movie courthouse steps) on April 24th? Who is the plaintiff suing Ed Sheeran for copyright infringement? The plaintiff is NOT the family of Marvin …

The internet is right once in a while. Observers noticed that Toshifumi Hinata’s “Reflections” is sampled in TikTok standout Trefuego’s 90Mh. And after issuing takedowns back in August (to apparently limited effect) Sony has now sued Trefuego. “Reflections,” according to the complaint is Hinata’s most popular work and has over 53 million streams on Spotify …

It would appear that toward the end of April, Ed Sheeran is going to be in court defending “Thinking Out Loud” against a claim that it infringes on Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” It’s been a long time coming, years in fact, and in that time, I’ve written quite a lot about it, because …

After sixty years or so of being the “World’s Greatest Rock And Roll Band,” The Rolling Stones hadn’t released a song in many years. They were inspired though to write about the pandemic lockdowns. We got another Stones song — who knows how many more we’ll get, and for their trouble, Keith and Mick got …

Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” vs Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” is too important to get wrong. Ed Sheeran is being sued because “Thinking Out Loud” sounds in some ways a lot like “Let’s Get It On,” and by all appearances, this is going to trial in April, finally. I first analyzed its main …

Should it have? Probably not. But neither should any of the nominated songs. It’s no great disaster. The music industry is, in the view of some at least, and there’s perhaps something to be said, as there often is, for a teaspoon of conservatism that’s at work here. Without it, Chat GPT could be the …

The legality is questionable. The morality is also questionable. I’m low-key rooting for this to turn into something. The music business and the law are both somewhat inadequately prepared for a case like this, and I think it presents all kinds of interesting questions and opportunities for discussion and consideration. First, the basic facts: Rick …

Perhaps you’ve heard that you can’t copyright a groove. (Copyright isn’t really a verb, but everyone understands what you mean when you use it as one.) And on the heals of “you can’t” you might also hear, “but what about Blurred Lines?!” And yes, when the silly Blurred Lines case happened, it was said that …

Short answer: This is what a forensic musicologist does. As a forensic musicologist, I apply a broad knowledge of music theory, music history, and copyright law to assess, evaluate, and explain the relevant truths where there’s a copyright-related question about a piece of music and how it might relate to another work or works. And …