Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars may end up regretting the day they ever recorded ‘Uptown Funk’, their 2014 mega-hit which went on to become the biggest song of the year but has also landed them in repeated bouts of legal strife.
First, Mars and Ronson were forced to share writing credit with the members of The Gap Band, who claimed the duo had ripped off their 1979 funk anthem ‘Oops Up Side Your Head’. The members joined a total of six writers who were already credited.
“I don’t know what the deal is with that,” Ronson mused at one point. “When you have a hit people always come out of the woodwork to try to claim it. Whatever. I’ve never had a big hit before so I guess that’s what happens.”
Indeed, ‘Uptown Funk’ was hit with further plagiarism accusations after 1980s girl group The Sequence accused Ronson and his collaborators of copying their 1979 hit ‘Funk You Up’. Their claim, funnily enough, was the same as The Gap Band’s – that Ronson and co stole the hook of ‘Uptown Funk’.
Oh, and there was also a Serbian pop star who claimed ‘Uptown Funk’ had cribbed from her track, ‘Ulice Mracne Nisu Za Devojke‘. Maybe it’s just the Halloween spirit in us talking, but it almost seems like ‘Uptown Funk’ is cursed.
Don’t believe us? Well, as TMZ reports the song is now at the centre of yet another plagiarism suit. According to the outlet, Ronson and Mars are among many names listed in a lawsuit filed by the sole remaining member of 1980s funk crew Collage.
The band claim the “rhythm, harmony, melody and structure” of ‘Uptown Funk’ was lifted directly from their 1983 single ‘Young Girls’. Collage claim it’s likely Ronson and Mars had heard ‘Young Girls’, since they’re big fans of ’80s-era Minneapolis electro-funk.
Whilst ‘Uptown Funk’ and its source album, Ronson’s Uptown Special, were undeniably influenced by the Minneapolis electro-funk scene, one could argue that ‘Young Girls’ shared elements with many of the singles that came out of that era.
Still, Collage and the band’s lawyers are out for blood, or more specifically money. According to TMZ, ‘Uptown Funk’ has sold more than 6.1 million copies, making it the second-longest reigning number-one single in Billboard history, netting Ronson’s label $100k a week via streaming on Spotify alone.
