Pastiche or Piracy? Musical Quotation in the 21st Century

In March 2015, Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay over $7million dollars to Marvin Gaye’s children after a jury found the pair to have copied the late singer’s ‘Got To Give it Up’ in its totality for their 2013 single ‘Blurred Lines’. Throughout musical history, composers have always re-worked and re-appraised existing material, be it through haphazard pastiche, knowing parody or—in more recent times—through sampling. However, discussions around usage are increasingly fraught with complication.

This presentation explores a number of examples from contemporary classical and popular practice, unpacking issues around authorship, copyright, and the ethics of borrowing. It will ask what Katy Perry has got to do with Edvard Grieg, provide historical context for Rosalía’s use of existing melodies with new lyrical content, and question why Timbaland’s use of material from the Middle East raises concerns around cultural imperialism.