Eight songwriters on the line between inspiration and theft.
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Is it ever worth it to borrow someone elses work?
And perhaps more importantly, is it worth how much it could cost?
I just wanted to know I wrote a song.
I did it right before the song was released.
Im, like, the most paranoid person.
Any time somebody tells me something sounds similar, I freak out.
Ill get a musicologist or two on it.
I ask 8,001 people.
I thinkthe Blurred Lines thingreally scared the shit out of the songwriting and music community.
But as long as youre not trying to fuck people over, then youre good.
Theres a song on my new album that is literally a song from the past that we flipped.
And I just know in my bones it will relate to people all around the world.
Everybody I play it for theyre like, Ah!
Its that song, oh my god.
They freak out about it.
I just love the song so much.
Its not called the music music, its called the music business.
And thats kind of shitty, too.
If something is a blatant copy where its too much, I would definitely go after it.
I always felt bad that uncle George felt bad about that.
Were DJs, man, were vinyl addicts.
Every aspect of music I do involves samples.
They said, Yeah, well do it but were going to take 175 percent of the song rights.
It was clever lawyers and publishers coming up with new rules but we was all right with that.
You win some, you lose some in this particular game.
We knew we were doing some outlaw shit.
Since youre a gunslinger, you cant start crying about getting shot.
With songwriting, theres going to be some commonalities its the same language.
But that whole they lifted it from this is bullshit.
Im listening to two different fucking songs.
Theres not a fairy tale behind every birth these songs are born in a sonic bordello.
These areas stand out more because the record companies have collapsed.
It ended up not coming out due to sample clearance.
I suggested using DAngelos How Does It Feel because I thought it would be crazy for the record.
The label loved it.
But we couldnt clear it or agree on the publishing.
I think they were asking for 80 to 90 percent royalties of the song.
And it was just an ad-lib he did, not even a lyric!
After that, we just try not to even play with samples.
When we worked on the Teyana Taylor album, there was a lot of that.
We got to see firsthand how that actually works, cause Kanye uses a lot of samples.
As creators, our job is to create a vibe or a feeling.
Theres a very thin line between inspiration and stealing.
You almost dont even notice.
You think,Oh my god, this melody is catchy.
But no one knows its literally a Missy Elliott melody or Ciaras Goodies.
Do you have anything?
And we always raise the questions: Are you sure?
Maybe we should change the melody.
At the end of the day, there are only 12 notes.
Naturally, certain progressions are going to make you want to sing a certain way.
Those melodies are probably in the back of your mind.
But were open to giving people all the credit they deserve.
That happens you sing something and youre like, Imsurethis exists.
Im stealing, right?
My song Not So Bad in LA, too.
Everyone said it was a Lana Del Rey song, but I could never find a specific song.
It just conjured up feelings of Lana Del Rey.
Its such a fine line, and such an interesting conversation, and it comes up in most sessions.
Most sessions start with, What are you listening to?
What should we listen to that will then be used as our inspiration for what were going to write?
I dont think its that dirty.
The songs were referencing did the same thing.
Whenthe Beatles were reinventing music,they were copying blues musicians and Elvis.
Thats how music works.
You draw from other sources and you combine influences.
But where do you draw the line?
Thats where it gets interesting.
Or songs that takes the exact bass line and change the timing.
Is that still a copy?
I have definitely taken songs and written something fresh from them.
Change notes, rhythms, and lyrics.
Thats a big reason why radio music goes through these waves.
When the Chainsmokers became popular all of a sudden, all the writers wanted those drops.
Before that, they wanted the EDM drop.
Before that, it was Max Martin and Dr. Lukes super-compressed guitar sounds for Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson.
He said, You know what?
Ive never considered myself to be original as a public figure, or a writer.
Im not precious about it.
I am a product of my influences, and my influences are vast.
Generally, my attitude towards sampling is, credit where credits due.
It does irritate me if someone featuressomething of mine prominently and doesnt credit me.
To me, when I heard it, I was like, Thats really good.
We split the songwriting 50/50, so thats not really the problem with the industry.
People get miscredited all the time, and literally 50 percent of royalties dont meet their intended party.
but the truth is she got my 100 percent permission.
She was devastated and mortified that I didnt get credited.
Cause when I was sampling Enya, she lived out of a castle in Europe.
Nobody was sampling Enya.
She didnt get no kind of clearance for her music.
Literally, we got threatened.
Literally, we got threatened to pull everything from the album.
So then there had to be a conversation with Enya.
We had to pay a fee, but she went with it.
I sampled a lot, because coming up, for me, thats just part of our culture.
Like you DJing, you always sampling.
People are sampling my music.
The thing about copyright issues you always gonna have that.
Writers draw from other writers.
But you still gotta be real conscious that youre not jacking the shit.
At first, I thought the label wasnt gonna get me anything for it.
It ended up being a real good deal in the end.
The Jackson estate made it easy for me; they were the first people to clear Remember the Time.
After I got that cleared, I went straight into the You Rock My World sample.
I changed one or two things.
But if you notice, I didnt really change the melody.
It took nine months to clear that song.
I wont say the number I paid to reset the samples, but it was fair.
Im the throw in that knows how to give credit.
Ive been in the studio with Young Thug.
Theres a song I showed him where I said, Look, I got this from your inspiration.
And thats the part that people will respect.
And it happens to everybody because you listen to music all day.
Ive made a melody that sounds like an old Beyonce song and you just realize, Oh shit.
I cant do that because Ill have to pay for it.
You just scrap it.
I just changed the melody, resubmitted, and they backed off.
My friend Dr. Lawrence Ferrara is the god of musicologists.
He did theStairway to Heavencase.
You dont even want the possibility that someone would come for you.
Take the Sam Smith case, Stay With Me.
He used the Tom Petty melody unintentionally from I Wont Back Down.
They went to Petty and said, I didnt mean to do this, but I took the melody.
They gave Petty 25 percent and Sam won a Grammy.
Its the lawyers and the family members who are irrational and who were protecting ourselves from.
Debates over song borrowing often revolve around one thing: Money.
$15,000$30,000
Insurance costs for artists to protect themselves annually against plagiarism charges.
Its a lot, but better than fighting a Blurred Lines battle.
$10,000$250,000
The range of deductibles for such an insurance policy.
(The judge denied the request.)
$60,000
The budget to clear samples for a major hip-hop release.
$2,500 plus 10 percent of a songs publishing royalties
The typical sampling cost paid to songwriters.
This can add up.
The cost depends on the duration of the melody, not who the source is.
