From what I could gather, the Ed Sheeran suit was pretty lame. The plaintiffs were trying to argue that the use of a chord progression was infringement. I haven't heard what happened in that suit, but that is draconian. The suit against George Harrison had more merit, but if musical phrases and chord progressions are "copyright-able" then new music is dead.

I think if I had a commercial song with an important passage that was very closely related to another, I'd have my people contact their people and work out something. If my hook was the same lyric as another person's hook and the lyric was "unique" and not everyday speech, then a plaintiff may have a point. If I included somebody else's hook that seemed like a "quotation" then things might be more iffy. Time for people to talk to people. "Hey, my client has a song that pays homage to your client's song "Breaking Wind". We'd like to avoid future issues and are asking your opinion."

Of course, I'd have to talk to my people to see if that was the right advice. And you should talk to your people before you listen to either me or my people.

Carry on.


Last edited by Tangmo; 05/10/19 08:14 PM.
BIAB 2021 Audiophile. Windows 10 64bit. Songwriter, lyricist, composer(?) loving all styles. Some pre-BIAB music from Farfetched Tangmo Band's first CD. https://alonetone.com/tangmo/playlists/close-to-the-ground