Musicology

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 heels 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 to …

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 …

First Blush Prima Facie Hot Take: It’s a whole lot the same alright, but it might not be a sample, and it might not be copyright infringement. We’ll explain. Won’t take long: Today we learned that Lil Uzi Vert, is being sued for what might be an illegal sample in his 2020 track Strawberry Peels, which …

Ed Sheeran is right to be annoyed by the number of copyright cases he has to face, and it’s true that the world of music copyright has shifted somewhat since the “Blurred Lines” verdict. But there are legitimate interesting cases out there, and there are some less advisable ones. And because nobody doesn’t love a …

Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” lawsuit was the subject of a podcast I listened to this morning from Slate. High-profile cases like this are fascinating to the public, and I’d suggest they inform and steer the climate of litigation in which creators these days have to create. When I read or hear public discussion around a case …