This summer saw one of the greatest dance hits in recent years. Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams made heads nod and toes tap with the break out hit, “Blurred Lines”. The song jetted up the music charts one the flow of a funky, familiar groove. The song did not come with its degree of controversy.
First, there was the issue of the video for the song in which scantily clad women pranced around the set. Once that died done, there came the controversy of the possible copyright violations. This issue is one to watch for anyone who peddles in intellectual property.
For the uninitiated, according to the United States Copyright Office, copyright is “form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship,’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.” It is an integral part of dealing intellectual property. Understanding copyright is a matter that I have discussed in previous posts but it seems that it still stands in a place of ambiguity for most people. That ambiguity could be very costly.
Let me say here that I suggest that if you are creating original materials you register your copyrights as soon as possible. It is incredible the way that things get around and it does not feel good to hear your ideas being credited to others while they reap financial benefit. So, it is important to put yourself in a position to have some recourse if this should happen.
With that being said, looking at the case of Robin Thicke, I must admit that the tune sounded instantly like something that I had heard before. Before I had any concept of a potential copyright issue, I had already attributed that funky bass line to Marvin Gaye. However, I thought that the typical route of copyright protection had been respected. I thought that the necessary permissions had been sought and obtained. Seeing as though it was not, Robin Thicke offered the family of Marvin Gaye a settlement to avoid going to court. It is feasible to think that Robin Thicke has seen a great financial turn because of the hit’s popularity. The question is whether the Gaye family is going to see any of it and how much.
