Whether by sheer coincidence, inspiration or plain theft,
several hit songs sound alike, so it is not unusual that you can listen to a
song and find that it reminds you of another. An explanation may be that as humans
we are often influenced by others in our day to day lives and the one being
influenced may subconsciously or intentionally begin to sound, look, or act
like the influencer.
While it may be acceptable that a budding artiste may sing
and sound like Artiste A, it will be a totally different case if he samples or
rips off Artiste A’s song or even creates a cover of a song by Artiste A
without first taking certain steps. For those interested in making a cover
version of a song, it is advisable to send a notification letter to the
copyright owner of the song or his representative and to fulfill all the
requirements obligated by law in order not to be dragged into a copyright
infringement lawsuit.
No matter how inspired we may be by another’s music, we must
always be careful to note that there is a thin line between inspiration and
music plagiarism.
According to Wikipedia, music plagiarism is the use or
close imitation of another author's music while representing it as one's own
original work.
WHAT ESTABLISHES
PLAGIARISM IN A SONG?
