5 ms·

> The two songs are very similar in some ways This is a vacuous observation. Any two songs are similar "in some ways". > even Sheeran played them as a live m

by lisper 4y ago

> The two songs are very similar in some ways This is a vacuous observation. Any two songs are similar "in some ways". > even Sheeran played them as a live medley I think that says more about Sheeran's skill as a performer than it does about the similarity of the songs.

AlbertCory 4y ago
No, it doesn't. Watch Rick Beato put them side by side. (this is not to say it's an infringement; they're just very similar.)
- wpietri 4y ago
  Ah, thanks. As a non-musician, this helps me see what the similarities are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rBN4UtkWQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rBN4UtkWQ
  - lisper 4y ago
    Meh, this is a parlor trick. The two songs have similar rhythms and chord progressions, that is all. There is probably not a single popular song ever written that didn't share those features with some other song out there somewhere. And two songs don't even have to be similar at all to be able to fram them together in a way that sounds coherent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOx4CmQWLs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOx4CmQWLs
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      So you can take some other song and make it coherent with Let's Get It On? waiting. this sounds interesting. For the record: I don't think it's infringement.
      - lisper 4y ago
        There are many songs that can cohere with "Let's Get It On", especially if you allow yourself to change tempos and keys, which you have to do in order to make "Thinking Out Loud" fit. In fact, if you allow all the diffs you have to employ to map LGIO onto TOL there are probably hundreds of songs you could fit either one to. In fact, there is almost certainly a song (probably more than one) released before LGIO that you could map LGIO onto which LGIO would infringe by this standard.
        AlbertCory 4y ago
        I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about, since Beato doesn't leave much doubt that it's not a ripoff. The keys are different, but the tempi are pretty darn close. Your "probably" is doing a lot of work here. LGIO doesn't fit a pattern of "unknown artist writes something, sues the big artist only when he/she has a hit." LGIO was a big hit on its own. Led Zeppelin settled this one, for an undisclosed sum. https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/pop-music-blog/inspiration-or-plagiarism-you-need-love-vs-whole-lotta-love https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/pop-music-blog/inspiration-or... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf7mMal5vY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf7mMal5vY Plagiarism is clearly a judgment call. I don't know if Townsend was willing to settle for a reasonable sum or not. Probably not, since they went to trial, which was just asking to end up with nothing.
        lisper 4y ago
        > I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about Are we arguing? I think we're mostly in agreement about the main issue. The only thing I think we might disagree on is that you attach more significance to the fact that LGIO and TOL sound coherent when you alternate between them than I do.
        AlbertCory 4y ago
        More that Sheeran himself alternated between them in his concerts, as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg I'm not an expert on copyright law, but I think "derivative work" probably does describe TOL. However: I believe the defendant is entitled to ask for a jury trial. Once that was granted, though, the plaintiffs should have settled. There's no way a jury is going to understand what a derivative work is, and a jury trial is horrendously expensive.

by lisper 4y ago

AlbertCory 4y ago

No, it doesn't. Watch Rick Beato put them side by side. (this is not to say it's an infringement; they're just very similar.)

wpietri 4y ago
Ah, thanks. As a non-musician, this helps me see what the similarities are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rBN4UtkWQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rBN4UtkWQ
- lisper 4y ago
  Meh, this is a parlor trick. The two songs have similar rhythms and chord progressions, that is all. There is probably not a single popular song ever written that didn't share those features with some other song out there somewhere. And two songs don't even have to be similar at all to be able to fram them together in a way that sounds coherent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOx4CmQWLs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOx4CmQWLs
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    So you can take some other song and make it coherent with Let's Get It On? waiting. this sounds interesting. For the record: I don't think it's infringement.
    - lisper 4y ago
      There are many songs that can cohere with "Let's Get It On", especially if you allow yourself to change tempos and keys, which you have to do in order to make "Thinking Out Loud" fit. In fact, if you allow all the diffs you have to employ to map LGIO onto TOL there are probably hundreds of songs you could fit either one to. In fact, there is almost certainly a song (probably more than one) released before LGIO that you could map LGIO onto which LGIO would infringe by this standard.
      - AlbertCory 4y ago
        I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about, since Beato doesn't leave much doubt that it's not a ripoff. The keys are different, but the tempi are pretty darn close. Your "probably" is doing a lot of work here. LGIO doesn't fit a pattern of "unknown artist writes something, sues the big artist only when he/she has a hit." LGIO was a big hit on its own. Led Zeppelin settled this one, for an undisclosed sum. https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/pop-music-blog/inspiration-or-plagiarism-you-need-love-vs-whole-lotta-love https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/pop-music-blog/inspiration-or... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf7mMal5vY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf7mMal5vY Plagiarism is clearly a judgment call. I don't know if Townsend was willing to settle for a reasonable sum or not. Probably not, since they went to trial, which was just asking to end up with nothing.
        lisper 4y ago
        > I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about Are we arguing? I think we're mostly in agreement about the main issue. The only thing I think we might disagree on is that you attach more significance to the fact that LGIO and TOL sound coherent when you alternate between them than I do.
        AlbertCory 4y ago
        More that Sheeran himself alternated between them in his concerts, as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YxFjQXbXg I'm not an expert on copyright law, but I think "derivative work" probably does describe TOL. However: I believe the defendant is entitled to ask for a jury trial. Once that was granted, though, the plaintiffs should have settled. There's no way a jury is going to understand what a derivative work is, and a jury trial is horrendously expensive.