Provocative music promotion can lead to public backlash on consent and objectification.
Legal decisions in music plagiarism cases are subjective, showcasing challenges in proving originality.
Deep dives
The Controversial Success of Blurred Lines
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke had a lasting impact on the music industry despite its controversy. Thicke's collaboration with Pharrell in 2013 led to massive popularity, but the song's lyrics and music video faced heavy criticism for their suggestive nature. The provocative strategies used to promote the song backfired, leading to a public backlash concerning consent and objectification.
Legal Battles in the Music Industry
The legal battle between Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and the Marvin Gaye estate highlighted issues of copyright infringement. Despite the differences in technical musical aspects, the jury ultimately sided with Marvin Gaye's children, awarding them $7.3 million. This landmark case set a precedent and led to further legal challenges, including Ed Sheeran's lawsuit over his song 'Thinking Out Loud.'
Ed Sheeran's Legal Victory and Creative Differences
Ed Sheeran faced a similar lawsuit to 'Blurred Lines' regarding similarities between 'Thinking Out Loud' and 'Let's Get It On.' However, Sheeran emerged victorious in the legal battle, emphasizing the challenges of proving originality in music composition. The contrasting outcomes of Sheeran's case and the 'Blurred Lines' verdict showcased the subjective nature of legal decisions in music plagiarism cases.
Ed Sheeran just won a big copyright trial. But he might not have even been in court if not for Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s “Blurred Lines.” Pitchfork’s Jayson Greene explains how the song of the summer from 10 years ago simply refuses to go away.
This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and Matt Collette, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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