{"id":1610,"date":"2016-11-03T12:19:46","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T16:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=1610"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:59:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:59:42","slug":"is-uptown-funk-the-new-blurred-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2016\/11\/is-uptown-funk-the-new-blurred-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Is &#8220;Uptown Funk&#8221; the new &#8220;Blurred Lines&#8221;?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2016\/11\/Girls_hitch_your_halleluja.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1611\" src=\"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2016\/11\/Girls_hitch_your_halleluja-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"girls_hitch_your_halleluja\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2016\/11\/Girls_hitch_your_halleluja-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2016\/11\/Girls_hitch_your_halleluja-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/78\/2016\/11\/Girls_hitch_your_halleluja.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Minneapolis college funk band, Collage, has sued Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars for copyright infringement over the 2014 hit song &#8220;Uptown Funk.&#8221; According to <a href=\"http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/news\/69413-mark-ronson-and-bruno-mars-sued-over-uptown-funk\/\">Pitchfork<\/a>, the complaint claims the track is a &#8220;strikingly and\/or substantially similar copy&#8221; of a Collage song entitled &#8220;Young Girls&#8221; the band wrote in 1983. The alleged similar elements include the &#8220;instrumental attributes and themes of &#8216;Uptown Funk'&#8221; such as &#8220;guitar riffs,&#8221; &#8220;bass notes,&#8221; and &#8220;crescendo of horns.&#8221; The plaintiffs bolster their argument by pointing to public comments by Ronson and Mars regarding their 1930s Minneapolis electro-funk soul music influence. James, Jeff Bhasker, Devon Gallaspy, Phillip Lawrence, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner\/Chappell Music, and RCA Records are all named as additional defendants to the suit. Collage is seeking damages and profits, which could be highly lucrative considering its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2016\/10\/uptown-funk-is-officially-diamond-certified.html\">Diamond Certification<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jennifer Marr is an Online Highlight Editor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current second year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2018).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minneapolis college funk band, Collage, has sued Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars for copyright infringement over the 2014 hit song &#8220;Uptown Funk.&#8221; According to Pitchfork, the complaint claims the track is a &#8220;strikingly and\/or substantially similar copy&#8221; of a Collage song entitled &#8220;Young Girls&#8221; the band wrote in 1983. The alleged similar elements include the 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