‘Blurred Lines’ on Their Minds, Songwriters Create Nervously

It’s not easy to be a songwriter in the pop world these days. Listeners rarely see your name. For anything but a giant hit, royalties from streaming are infinitesimal — and big tech companies seem to want to keep it that way. 1 song — in which Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, its primary writers, were ordered to pay more than $5 million for copying Marvin Gaye’s disco-era hit “Got to Give It Up” — the case still looms over the music industry and individual songwriters, who were left to wonder when homage bleeds into plagiarism. The aftereffects of the “Blurred Lines” decision — which was upheld on appeal last year — have been felt most acutely by rank-and-file songwriters, who work in obscurity even as their creations propel others to stardom. The songwriter Evan Bogart, who has written for Beyoncé, Rihanna and Madonna, described second-guessing himself in the studio, worried that a melody or lyric might cross a line he can no longer locate. Most accusations of plagiarism never go before a judge. Instead, they are settled quietly — and often protected with confidentiality agreements — with the results evident only in the fine print of writing credits. and producer Marshmello and the singer Anne-Marie. When the song first appeared on the charts, in February 2018, it was credited to three people: Marshmello, Anne-Marie and Nat Dunn, an Australian-born singer and songwriter. 11 on the Billboard chart, and versions of it had racked up more than 640 million YouTube streams, five additional names were listed among the song’s creators. Between the song’s release date and its international success, the three people originally credited as the writers of “Friends” were accused of ripping off a little-heard 2017 song called “Obvious” by the London-based producer Eden Prince, featuring the singer Cassie. The songwriters of “Obvious” included Mr. Prince, three members of a British music collective called the Six and another singer, Jasmine Thompson. Ms. Dunn, one of the writers of “Friends,” said in an interview that she believed the claim was “ridiculous,” but that her advisers had instructed her not to fight it and potentially end up in court, where the outcome would be unpredictable. Marshmello and Anne-Marie declined to comment, and representatives of the writers of “Obvious” did not respond to inquiries. Copyright disputes are nothing new in music. In the United States, they go back at least as far as a lawsuit over the illicit publication of the sheet music of W. J. Wetmore’s “The Cot Beneath the Hill” in 1844. Harrison wrote in his memoir, he felt a “paranoia about songwriting that had started to build up in me.”
The “Blurred Lines” case, many lawyers and executives say, has become the latest watershed, putting the commonly understood rules of songwriting up for debate. As songwriters often remark, there are only so many notes in the scale, and influence is essential to the art. Harvey Mason Jr., a songwriter and producer, said the “Blurred Lines” case “unnerved a lot of people writing songs, because a lot of what inspires creative people is the work that has been done before.”
It changed the game for the lawyers, too. Edwin F. McPherson, a litigator who did not agree with the “Blurred Lines” decision, said the case had changed the calculus about which copyright cases prevail. McPherson said. Lawyers for Mr. In a dissenting opinion published when the case was upheld last year, Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit argued that the verdict allowed the Gaye estate “to accomplish what no one has done before: copyright a musical style.”
Mr. He had given interviews citing “Got to Give It Up” as inspiration for his song, only to deny it in depositions, saying he had been intoxicated when talking with music journalists. More songwriters are arming themselves with expensive insurance policies. And musicologists — academically trained experts who sometimes consult in copyright cases — are in greater demand. “The phone rings more,” said Joe Bennett, a vice president at the Berklee College of Music who also works as an expert witness for hire. But, he added, “a huge number of the inquiries I get are spurious.”
Songwriters now face heightened scrutiny of their work while it is still in progress, as record companies and music publishers sometimes vet new songs for echoes of past works. “I changed a few notes.”
Any settlement can have significant consequences for writers. Mr. Golan said he was furious, but the only action he could take was largely symbolic: refusing to grant permission for a few licensing deals down the line. “I would rather shelve my asset than have someone else sell my integrity,” he said. But Mika acknowledged that the deal was necessary. “In that case its always good to be crystal clear before a record even comes out.”
Mr. Golan said that what bothered him was less the existence of a deal than the fact that he had no say in it. “If there are/were similarities, they were beyond unintentional,” Mr. Golan wrote in an email. Lepera said. “People have thrown a lot of weight behind this — more weight than it deserves. Defendants may be more inclined not to put up a fight.”
And for songwriters, the impact is still often felt when thoughts about the courtroom intrude in the studio. “I’m not going to stop writing songs,” said Busbee, who has written hits for Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum. “But it puts a massive damper on the process, if you’re concerned that you will be sued.”