USC music expert talks about ‘blurred lines’ of sampling

Ever hear a song, and think, wow, that sounds like another song?

That’s the simple version of the story behind the legal battle over Robin Thicke’s 2013 hit, “Blurred Lines,” which, a court determined, had borrowed liberally from the 1977 Marvin Gaye sont, “Got to Give It Up.”

It’s a far different legal atmosphere than in the 1980s, when hip-hop groups lay large swaths of songs from performers such as James Brown.

Birgitta Johnson will share her knowledge about the sea changes in sampling in a lecture Tuesday. The USC assistant professor talks about copyright infringement, sampling and borrowing of beats as a featured speaker Tuesday during the Friends of African-American Art & Culture at the Columbia Museum of Art’s annual meeting.

Johnson, who teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in world music, African-American music, African music, and ethnomusicology, will speak in a lecture titled "Playing Outside the 'Blurred Lines': The Long Game of Musical Inspiration, Borrowing, and Infringement."

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. in the Alexander Lorick Auditorium at the Columbia Museum of Art. The lecture is free for FAAAC members and $5 for nonmembers. Details: www.columbiamuseum.org

Staff Reports

This story was originally published June 15, 2015 at 11:10 PM with the headline "USC music expert talks about ‘blurred lines’ of sampling."