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Lawsuit Filed Over Distinctly Funky Guitar Riffs

By Stacey Lee Trien, Esq posted 11-04-2016 07:00 PM

  

Eighties funk group Collage’s surviving member Larry White and the estates of its two late members, Grady Wilkins and Lee Peters, have filed a lawsuit against Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson claiming their hit "Uptown Funk" substantially copies portions of Collage's 1983 single "Young Girls" and are seeking damages and profits.  The Complaintobtained by Pitchforkalleges that “many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of 'Uptown Funk' are deliberately and clearly copied” from their song.

This suit is actually the second copyright infringement claim filed against Ronson and Mars over this song. In May 2015, they settled with The Gap Band after it was alleged that sections of their 1979 song, “Oops Upside Your Head” were used in “Uptown Funk.”  The settlement purportedly provided The Gap Band members with a 17 percent share of the "Uptown Funk" publishing royalties.

Compare the songs for yourself and read more here: http://pitchfork.com/news/69413-mark-ronson-and-bruno-mars-sued-over-uptown-funk/

 

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