Sound Alikes

[riHDer]

I wrote a song that has 3 notes in the hook that 2 people have told me are the same as the hook of another
song, namely "Hungry Eyes" from the movie "Dirty Dancing" although the inflections and timing are a little different.
They are the three notes that the words Hungry Eyes are soung to. The rest of the song is totally different.
Should I be concerned and change it a little or are 3 notes not enough to be concerned about? I understand
it takes 8 measures of similarity to constitute copyright infringement. If 3 notes are an issue we have run out of
options a long, long time ago. That is my thinking. Does anybody agree/disagree?
Thanks.

[fret17]

Hi rdHDer.....Without hearing your song to compare it to the other, I'll just say that if it makes everyone think of "Hungry Eyes" then I'd say change it...not because of copyright infringement...but more because the industry is always looking for something different in melodies and phrasing....I don't think they'd use a piece that reminds everyone of another...not intentionaly anyway...when 1.)It's been done already...and 2.)Why invest in a potential problem?....it's sort of like prints of a Van Gogh....there really is only the original...anything else is a copy....so your challenge in this is, no matter how much you love how your song is already, strive to change it into something else that may be even better than what you've got right now...so that there will be no confusion and it can shine on it's own merits....granted...we all borrow from eachother but we have to find a way to bring our own uniqueness to that borrowing and make it our own and something new...post it some time so we can hear what you're asking and you will get a better answer than this one.
Good luck!

[Casey H]

You'd really have to post it for us to hear. There are a zillion ways to use three notes-- timing, rhythm, harmony (chords), etc... Many songs have some places where they are similar to others. It's hard to judge the degree of it without hearing.

Best,
Casey

[mojobone]

Yep; no way to tell without hearing it.

[riHDer]

Thanks for the input. I'll post the song. I decided to change one note but I'll post it the way it is so you can hear what I'm
talking about.

[T&V Marino]

With the music industry being what it is today, it's even more important not to have songs sound like a hit song, even when it's totally unintentional. We've heard (supposedly true) stories of record companies hiring musicologists to listen to "Sound Alikes" on music library websites and then turn around and sue them if the music sounds too close.

One of our friends said he had to take down several of his songs off of a music library site because the guy singing it sounded way too much like the Beach Boys (and had in fact sung on some of the Beach Boys' early songs), so he was afraid they'd get busted.

It's a scary time right now. If several people said it sounds like "Hungry Eyes," then it's probably too close. The good news is you can ALWAYS do things like: change the rhythm, put in a small rest/space, do a little vocal turn, change the notes/intervals around, etc., to still make the song work.

Good luck!

Tracey & Vance Marino

[fret17]

One of our friends said he had to take down several of his songs off of a music library site because the guy singing it sounded way too much like the Beach Boys (and had in fact sung on some of the Beach Boys' early songs), so he was afraid they'd get busted.

Tracey & Vance Marino

You have a friend who writes like the beachboys...has a singer who sang with and sounds like the beachboys,... all original music???...Just curious...How is that plagiarism?...can you copyright a style or band sound now?

[mojobone]

Lately, I've been hearing (on LinkedIn) about a sort of legal end-around; if you sound enough like the original to be mistaken for the original, it's construed as trademark infringement, rather than a copyright case. (sorta like using someone's image or logo in an endorsement without permission)

Tom Waits and a few others have pursued this legal tactic, but in both of the successful cases that I'm aware of, the advertisers attempted to license the original track, and were denied by the artists. They then commissioned a soundalike of the artist's song, in the usual and perfectly legal way, but were found by a court to be violating the spirit of the trademark law.

If your song is original and in the style of the Beach Boys, it shouldn't matter how close you come to nailing their sound. Sounds to me like someone didn't want to take their chances in court. I might decide similarly, even if I knew I were right, since the Beach Boys have deeper pockets than I.

[fret17]

Wow...if I was that library, I would've made the beach boys prove I was trying to copy their sound and not Jan and Dean's.....I would've also brought up the fact that if a big band decides to play an original that could be mistaken for a Glenn Miller piece....what's the judge going to say?...."Sorry....you must use kazoos"...WTF??

[jdstamper]

Just sounding like someone else is infringement? Composing an original song that reminds people of a previously recorded song? This seems like a slippery slope, does anyone have any other examples or cases that can shed more light on this?

Thanks