Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City Sued for Stealing ‘Good Time’ (VIDEO)

By On 10/31/2012 · 12 Comments · In Canadian Idol, Carly Rae Jepsen

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Carly Rae Jepsen and Adam Young (Owl City) are being sued for copyright infringement of their song “Good Time”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mega-selling singers Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City’s Adam Young as well as several publishing companies and performing rights groups are being sued in a new copyright infringement lawsuit filed in California federal court.

The claims come from Allyson Nichole Burnett, an Alabama-based singer and songwriter who authored the 2010 song, “Ah, It’s a Love Song.”

In Burnett’s lawsuit, she says that Young, Matt Thiessen and Brian Lee have copied a prominent motif of her song to create the pop hit “Good Time,” released by Owl City and Jepsen in June.

According to the complaint, the hook in Burnett’s song is a “unique vocal motif” that is repeated throughout the song and “has a catchy pop vibe that both draws people in and sticks in people’s heads.”

The lawsuit is filled with details about musicology and more. It’s a very detailed complaint, and I have to wonder if there is a jury out there who would understand the jargon. I’ve listened to both songs and hear similarities, but there are lots of songs out there that sound alike–there’s nothing new under the sun.

What do you think, does “Good Time” sound like a rip-off of “Ah, It’s a Love”?

Via The Hollywood Reporter

Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City – Good Time

Ah It’s a Love

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  • chillj

    The initial “call-out”  is  or the same, but the song bodies are not similar at all. That is the “vocal motif” and it looks like there may be reasonable basis for complaint, but not much was taken – except the hook (heh).

  • OffLeash

    LOL. They totally stole the hook, but I don’t think that’s gonna be enough for them to win their lawsuit.

  • http://twitter.com/newbornstarr Wally.

    I like Good Time better

  • celxx

    People can come up with similar sounds without copying one another. It’s ridiculous how these no name artists claim that famous singers stole their melodies. The famous singers probably didn’t even know the artist existed. Saying they copied the melody is like saying Coca Cola copied Pepsi. Even though they have similarities, they are also very different.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_F3XJE5GRAUMYR7Y5RYZUW7SC4U md

    I feel like the makers of those Ford spots on Idol should sue the makers of the Good Time video. 

  • Kerrymarketing

    If I were The Police I would sue Bruno Mars for stealing the melody from both the verse and chorus from “S.O.S.” and changing the song into “Locked Out of Heaven”.

    Lady Gaga has also been notorious for stealing,. e.g. “Judas” features a major hook from a hit KISS song “I was Made For Loving You”, “You and I” lifts from 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up”.

  • standtotheright

    I don’t even think the hook is similar all the way through; Good Time has it fall where the other line rises. I don’t think 6 syncopated notes, with a similar beat but an entirely different key, framed entirely differently in their respective songs, are enough to show intent. (It’s notable that she only counts 5 of the notes as a “pitch sequence” when the hook is easily twice that length.)

    I’m no student of music theory, but I have a reasonable hear for similar chord progressions, and this one, IMO, is close, but no cigar.

  • Kristie

    Honestly, I barely notice the similarities. I’ve heard more similar melodies in other songs. I call attention seeker.

  • iani

    “I don’t even think the hook is similar all the way through; Good Time has it fall where the other line rises.”

    I think the reference of the “hook” in that reference “the hook in  Burnett’s song is a “unique vocal motif” that is repeated throughout the song and “has a catchy pop vibe”, it’s about of  those “oh, oh….” in the beginning of the song that give the “catchy pop vibe”. I hear some similarities in the verse, nothing in chorus though; Burnett’s song is too busy lyrically, no catchy feeling for me at all, not even in repeated words. It’s like a Sara Bareilles kind of song with those pop inflections to make the song “current”.

    “If I were The Police I would sue Bruno Mars for stealing the melody
    from both the verse and chorus from “S.O.S.” and changing the song into
    “Locked Out of Heaven”.

    Lady Gaga has also been notorious for stealing,. e.g. “Judas”
    features a major hook from a hit KISS song “I was Made For Loving You”,
    “You and I” lifts from 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up”.”

    I feel the same with some of the Maroon 5 songs, some similarities in the orchestration, or in the beginning of the song that my mind goes directly “Ace of Base”( I think in their last hit One More Night)

  • durbesque

    Ms. Burnett is whistling Dixie.  Her song doesn’t even have a hook, so how can it be similar to ‘Good Time’, which has a strong, distinctive hook on 10-6-5 (mi-la-sol).  Nowhere in Burnett’s song is there a 10-6-5 anywhere!  The suit should be thrown out of court.

  • Dirgimzib

    I don’t like when artists accuse other artists of copyright infringement for such small elements of songs. Not every song can be 100% unique. If it was a whole song, it’s one thing, but these two songs are completely different outside of that one hook. It’s like if I said Green Day copied Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4″ when they wrote the hook to “Brain Stew”.

    This whole thing just comes off as a way for the lesser known artist to grab some extra exposure.

  • William Stackhouse

    Nah, they didnt steal from this song. Carly Rae Jepsen and Adam YOung stole from Mandisa! “Good Morning” by Mandisa. I hear way more similarities.