{"id":491862,"date":"2019-11-04T19:41:14","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T02:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=908084"},"modified":"2019-11-04T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T02:41:14","slug":"pharrell-reflects-on-blurred-lines-lawsuit-verdict-you-cant-copyright-a-feeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/pharrell-reflects-on-blurred-lines-lawsuit-verdict-you-cant-copyright-a-feeling\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharrell Reflects on \u2018Blurred Lines\u2019 Lawsuit Verdict: \u2018You Can\u2019t Copyright a Feeling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Pharrell<\/a> reflects on losing the \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d copyright trial \u2014 and disagreeing with the outcome \u2014 in a new interview with Rick Rubin<\/a> for GQ<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a lengthy<\/a> legal battle<\/a> that concluded<\/a> in 2018, a judge ruled that Pharrell, the song\u2019s producer\/co-writer, and singer\/co-writer Robin Thicke<\/a> would have to pay just shy of $5 million to the family of late singer Marvin Gaye over similarities between Thicke\u2019s \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d and Gaye\u2019s 1977 song \u201cGot to Give It Up.\u201d But i<\/span>n the GQ<\/em> video segment, Pharrell maintains that the two tracks only share a \u201cfeeling,\u201d which can\u2019t be copyrighted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Detailing his production process <\/span>with Neptunes production partner Chad Hugo (who didn\u2019t work on \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d)<\/span>, Pharrell says the duo often try to \u201creverse-engineer the songs that do something to us emotionally and \u2026 figure out if we can build a building that doesn\u2019t look the same but makes you feel the same way.\u201d He adds, \u201cI did that [with] \u2018Blurred Lines\u2019 and got myself in trouble.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRidiculously,\u201d Rubin adds, saying \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d \u201cis nothing like\u201d the Gaye track. <\/span>\u201cNope. But the feeling was,\u201d Pharrell interjects, agreeing that a feel can\u2019t be copyrighted. \u201cYou can\u2019t copyright a feeling,\u201d he says. \u201cAll salsa songs sound pretty much the same.\u201d He also admits that the verdict affected him emotionally: \u201cIt hurt my feelings because I would never take anything from anyone. And that really set me back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rubin argues that the case sets a dangerous precedent<\/a> for modern songwriters and producers, who are forced to tread more carefully in fear of other copyright suits. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bad for music because we\u2019ve had an understanding of what a song is, and now based on that one case, there\u2019s a question of what a song is,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not what it used to be because in the past, it would be the chords, the melody and the words \u2026 And your chords, your melody and your words \u2014 none of them had anything to do [with the Gaye song] \u2026 It leaves us as music-makers in a really uncomfortable place making things because we don\u2019t know what you can do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the lingering effects of the trial, Pharrell has maintained his packed production schedule. Among several other projects in 2019, he recently co-produced Beck\u2019s upcoming 14th LP, Hyperspace<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pharrell reflects on losing the \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d copyright trial \u2014 and disagreeing with the outcome \u2014 in a new interview with Rick Rubin for GQ. In a lengthy legal battle that concluded in 2018, a judge ruled that Pharrell, the song\u2019s producer\/co-writer, and singer\/co-writer Robin Thicke would have to pay just shy of $5 million […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-491862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-music-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-22 06:20:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KQZR - The Reel","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}