klaineforlife-deactivated201804
So… I’m starting this off. Please FEEL FREE to add…
A whole new meaning if ‘arm candy’.
twentyonegreen-deactivated20180
Ed Sheeran & The Curious Case of Copyright Infringement
Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid, various divisions of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Warner Music Group and its subsidiary, Atlantic Recording Corporation are being sued by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, and their publishing company HaloSongs. They allege that the Ed Sheeran song Photograph has the same musical structure & composition as their 2012 song Amazing, which was released in 2012 by Matt Cardle.
These men realize there’s a finite number of chords, right? They’re saying because some of the chorus of Photograph is similar to some of the chorus of Amazing, that they have the right to sue for $20 million dollars plus song royalties? Again, people, there are a finite amount of chords. Yes, it sounds similar, because it is similar, but not an exact replication. As you can see from the diagram farther down the page, they share a similar chord structure, not an identical one.
“The lawsuit says: “Given the striking similarity between the chorus of Amazing and Photograph, (the) defendants knew when writing, publishing, recording, releasing, and distributing Photograph that they were infringing on a pre-existing musical composition.””
Listen to both songs. Photograph is the top video and Amazing is the one below it. Yes, you will find similarities. Again….the structure is similar, but not exact. Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard believe that Ed Sheeran & Co. violated their copyright.
But, by reading the definition of the phrase ‘copyright infringement’, you’ll notice it says ‘a violation of the rights secured by a copyright’. I’m assuming that they placed a copyright on the lyrics & composition. Now, had Ed Sheeran & Co. copied the composition in question, they would have a case…but, as it were, the composition of both songs is not identical.
In the lawsuit, bullet points #50 & #51 are where the truth comes out - the real reason behind the lawsuit.
“Being associated with a hit song, like “Photograph,” would necessarily generate interest in other songs in the HaloSongs’ catalog, and other songs written by Harrington and Leonard.”
Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard are trying to force an association with Ed Sheeran & Co. in hopes that, by comparing Photograph to their song Amazing, it will generate interest & garner publicity for their publishing company, Halo Songs. Bottom line - they’re using this lawsuit for publicity. Need more proof? Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard hired the same lawyer who won the lawsuit between the family of Marvin Gaye against Pharrell Williams, T.I. and Robin Thicke. They’re confident they’ll win this case even thought the two songs have completely different lyrics & vocal melodies. In fact, the only thing these songs share is a similar beat in three lines of their respective choruses. The evidence Harrington & Leonard submitted proves that the chords are not exactly the same.
“Defendants’ willful infringement of “Amazing” has harmed HaloSongs, Harrington, and Leonard because, among other things, Harrington and Leonard were not properly credited for their contributions to “Photograph.” The proper licensing of “Amazing” for “Photograph” would not have only generated substantial revenues, but it would have generated international recognition for Harrington and Leonard as co-writers of a worldwide hit song. Instead, Harrington and Leonard had to sit by and watch Defendants receive awards, acclaim, and compensation without any of the proper recognition being received, as it should have been, by Harrington, Leonard, and HaloSongs.“
Money & fame. That’s what it all boils down to. Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard are using this lawsuit to acquire money & fame. That’s just sad.
Moving on to bullet points #52 & #53 —
52. In fact, Keith Urban stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he “fell in love with this song (‘Photograph’) at Wembley [Stadium], watching everybody in the audience sing along. The songwriting is just spellbinding.”
53. Little did Mr. Urban or the crowd know, they were singing along to the “Amazing” chorus written by Harrington and Leonard.
Let’s take a look at that Keith Urban quote again. “Keith Urban stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he “fell in love with this song (‘Photograph’) at Wembley [Stadium], watching everybody in the audience sing along. The songwriting is just spellbinding.” Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard blatantly twist Keith Urban’s words here to better suit themselves. Mr. Urban spoke about the spellbinding lyrics. Not once does he mention the melody. They were singing lyrics that Ed Sheeran & Co. wrote. At no point in time do the lyrics in Photograph come close to resembling the lyrics of Amazing. Below is a side by side comparison of the lyrics of both songs. Amazing is on the left and Photograph is on the right.
At no point are the lyrics remotely similar.
Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard continue to grasp for straws in bullet point #90.
90. The chorus sections of “Amazing” and the infringing “Photograph” share 39 identical notes — meaning the notes are identical in pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure . Additionally, the chorus sections of “Amazing” and the infringing “Photograph” share 4 substantially related notes — meaning the notes are the same in pitch, but not necessarily the same in rhythmic duration or identical placement in the measure . In other words, out of the 61 notes in the chorus section of “Photograph,” approximately 70 percent of the notes are identical to or substantially related to notes in the chorus section of “Amazing.” Further, 64 percent of the notes in the chorus section of “Photograph” are identical to the notes in the chorus section of “Amazing.”
Okay, so you’re telling me that the chorus of Photograph shares 39 identical notes with the chorus of Amazing. Well, how many notes in the chorus are not identical? How many notes in the entire song are not identical? They say that the two songs share ‘substantially related notes’ but that these notes in question are not in the same rhythmic duration or placement in the measure….so why did they bring that up? There are a finite number of notes, people! Songs will have the same notes. It’s a fact – not something to be used as evidence.
In bullet point #96, we get this gem:
You see that, right? The part where they say they had to change the key to make the comparison work. If the keys were identical, why did you have to change them for purposes of comparison?
In bullet point #101, Harrington and Leonard complain that the songs share a rhyming structure.
101. The chorus section of “Photograph” uses the same rhyming structure as the chorus section of “Amazing.” The measures 1, 5, 9, 11, and 13 all end in a similar “ee” sound. Measures 1, 9, and 13 actually end in the same word (“me”).
Well, if they’re going to be that petty about three rhyming lines in a chorus, then somebody needs to contact the composers of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star & The ABC Song so we can have a full on battle royale. I can tell you right now that one composer definitely stole the melody for the whole song from the other. It’s about to get crazy up in here!
Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and sue everyone who has a song where the sentences end with the word ‘me’ (because Harrington & Leonard’s song obviously did it before anyone else ever since the beginning of time).
Moving on…bullet points #104 & #104 are a sight to behold.
103. The red notes in the following transcript dramatically highlight the degree of similarity between the pieces (39 identical and 4 closely related pitches).
Aaaaand there it is again. They changed the original keys to make the comparison work. Once more, I ask: If the keys were identical, why did you have to change them for purposes of comparison?
Have these men never seen the article about the 4 Chords? This article lists 73 songs that have the same 4 chord progression:
Wikipedia also has quite a substantial list of songs that use the exact same chord progression:
Hypothetically, if we apply the formula Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard are using in this particular lawsuit – moving forward, it would mean anyone not using a 100% original chord progression in a song would be opening themselves up to be sued…it would mean anyone caught using the same chord progression as the person who originated it would be opening themselves up to be sued.
That means that each one of the artists mentioned in the articles above could be sued at any time by the person (or their descendants, as was with the Blurred Lines case) who originated that particular progression.
The Wikipedia list goes back as far as 1662, to “Ciaccona”by Antonio Bertali. If Mr. Bertali was indeed the inventor of that 4 chord progression then his descendants could (hypothetically) sue every person who has used it since.
Another excellent example of copying a chord progression is Pachelbel’s Canon In D. It’s in so many songs! Are his descendants going to start suing people too?
Funnily enough, Matt Cardle (the guy who sang Amazing) posted this on his Twitter account today….
….which is funny, considering he’s got these gems floating around on the internet.
In this one, Matt sings about how Ed robbed him while giving the crowd the middle finger while in this one, he says he wrote Amazing, calls Ed a thief and says Ed stole his Grammy. So, which is it man? Did you or did you not write the song? Is Ed a thief who ‘robbed’ you of a Grammy? Do you think Ed is a genius & deserving of his success? Or are you just trying to cover your ass?
On a serious note, I feel lawsuits like this set a dangerous precedent for artists/songwriters. Subsequently, it would open the door for a lot of shady dealings. People would get more ‘sue happy’ than they already are. Between the “4 Chords” video & the Pachabel one, it’s evident that chord similarities are everywhere in music and have been for years. Yes, I agree that Amazing & Photograph have similar chords in the chorus but, as I’ve shown, this is not a new occurrence. What would be the ultimate trajectory for lawsuits like this be? If lawsuits of this nature were to become more common, what would that do to the music industry?
Edward Christopher Sheeran you’re killing us here
multiply-ed-x
sings If you want to have sex with Ed Sheeran clap your hands
the best headline i’ve ever read.
88-red-balloons
yes. apparently a kid was screaming in line behind him about wanting pie, so he bought every single one. 23 pies. then slowly ate them as he stared at the kid and kid’s mom.
This is amazing
caligulascookie
OKAY so my mom found this article (or one about the same event) on Facebook. Basically what happened was, this guy went into BK with a headache, and while he was in line this kid and his mother enter the restaurant. The kid begins throwing a fit, screaming (I quote) “I want a fucking pie!” This is a child, mind you. His mother, on the phone, ignores the kid. The man’s headache got worse because of this screaming kid and he asked the woman if she could control her child. She told him to stop telling him how to raise her kid and went back to talking on the phone. So the guy orders his burger and all the pies they had- 23. He proceeded to the exit, only to hear the woman yell, “What do you mean, you don’t have any pies?” The cashier helplessly points out the man who bought all the pies. Our hero, to rub salt in the wound, slowly starts eating a pie before leaving.
Amazing
imreallybad-deactivated20150610
bisexual people passing as straight when they’re in a straight relationship is not “passing privilege.” it’s erasure. it’s assimilation.
that’s like saying that femme lesbians have privilege over butch lesbians. invisibility might keep people safer on a micro-level which is fucked up, but it’s all based on people thinking they can tell who’s queer & who’s straight just by looking at them, which is infinitely problematic and painful.
don’t alienate queer people who are assumed to be straight. invisibility is a symptom of hetero-normativity, not a privilege.
the signs when sad
Aries: pushy, mean, slightly aggressive but all they want is a supportive hug Taurus: impatient yet sensitive so they isolate themselves, binges on anything in sight, comforting conversations and rants tend to cure it Gemini: silent, keeps it a secret, nerves and overthinking, needs to lean on others but never admits it Cancer: shuts off all communication with others, cries silently to self, snug blankets, long hugs and warm cups of tea help Leo: brushes it off externally while it eats them up inside, music and a social event is sure to brighten their day Virgo: overthinks everything making themselves feel worse, reading to try distract their mind Libra: numb, bottles it all up, wallows in themselves, socializing with people who truly care Scorpio: cries at night, stays away from people and parties, fresh air and the open road clears their mind to free their emotions Sagittarius: takes it out on other people in the form of anger, knows exactly what to say to affect you, allow them to simmer and calm Capricorn: lack of motivation, on edge and very tense, seems blank and emotionless, a good long bubble bath with a glass of wine will help them relax Aquarius: untalkative and cold, quieter than usual, normally doesn’t want any attention when feeling this way Pisces: feels every negative thought all at once, anxiety rules them, irritable, retreats into their own world, needs someone close to trust with their life to help
Hey taylorswift, I did a sweeran thing today and I hope you don’t mind haha. I love you so much btw!
-
Story of the video edit: Taylor and Ed fall in love with each other, and their relationship is going on really well… until Taylor starts to realize that Ed is a trouble guy.
Ed starts to get in intense fights, cheat on Taylor, get surrounded by the police all the time and other stuff… It was all his nightmare. Literally, his worst nightmare.
He couldn’t imagine doing these things to her because he loves her more than anything in this world. When he finally wakes up, he relaxes as he sees Taylor is safe on his arms.
wanna know how punk i am??????
*punches a wall*
drive me to the hospital
kunstbaby-deactivated20150808
friends can break ur heart too
THIS IS THE REALEST THING I HAVE EVER READ
I have been here, multiple times! By referring to the order as a “Little Rosa”, you don’t have to make as big a deal out of the fact that you’re seeking help.
And believe it or not, it gets better. Rosa’s also gives out sweatshirts to the homeless (or sells them to the general public) that has information on local soup kitchens and even computer training in the area, on an insert sewn inside the sweatshirt.
(Details)
Reblogged again for these excellent details.
