Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars Are Being Sued Over “Uptown Funk”
Bad news for the duo.
Bruno Mars SNL
According to TMZ, Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson have been sued for copyright infringement over their massive single, "Uptown Funk." Minneapolis-based electro-funk band Collage claim that "Uptown Funk" is an "obvious, strikingly and/or substantially similar copy" of the band's own 1983 single "Young Girls."
The complaint, originally obtained by Pitchfork, states:
Upon information and belief, many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of “Uptown Funk” are deliberately and clearly copied from “Young Girls,” including, but not limited to, the distinct funky specifically noted and timed consistent guitar riffs present throughout the compositions, virtually if not identical bass notes and sequence, rhythm, structure, crescendo of horns and synthesizers rendering the compositions almost indistinguishable if played over each other and strikingly similar if played in consecutively.
Collage also claims that Ronson and Mars are heavily influenced by '80s electro-funk soul, and that it would be possible that the duo had heard "Young Girls."
Collage's only surviving member, Larry White, names Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, as well as Trinidad James, Jeff Bhasker, Devon Gallaspy, Phillip Lawrence, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner/Chappell Music, Atlantic Records, and RCA Records as plaintiffs.
Listen to Collage's "Young Girls" and Ronson and Mars' "Uptown Funk" below to compare the two songs for yourself.
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