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Justin Bieber, Skrillex Sued Over 'Sorry' Hook

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C

CDV13

Member
Yea that's pretty obvious in the beginning. Even though its not the exact timing. I only could listen a bit longer though, sheeeeesh.
 
K

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
Oooh, interesting. It's not a direct sample from what I can tell - the amount of ouh's is different. But it sounds very similar, and it is pretty unique sounding.

I wonder, if someone hears that and thinks "that's a cool sound, but it would be better if it was changed like this and like that" is that infringing?
 
O

Oozer3993

Member
From a legal perspective, iI don't it matters that much how similar they sound. What's important is whether Bieber and Skrillex heard "Ring the Bell" before they made "Sorry" and whether they specifically patterned their song after hers. And that's near impossible to do without one of the defendants rolling on the other, ala Robin Thicke in the "Blurred Lines" suit.
 
V

vikki

Member
Kinitari said:
Oooh, interesting. It's not a direct sample from what I can tell - the amount of ouh's is different. But it sounds very similar, and it is pretty unique sounding.

I wonder, if someone hears that and thinks "that's a cool sound, but it would be better if it was changed like this and like that" is that infringing?
Click to expand...

White Hinterland - Ring The Bell ( Skrillex & Justin Bieber Sorry it's a remix)
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Oozer3993 said:
From a legal perspective, iI don't it matters that much how similar they sound. What's important is whether Bieber and Skrillex heard "Ring the Bell" before they made "Sorry" and whether they specifically patterned their song after hers. And that's near impossible to do without one of the defendants rolling on the other, ala Robin Thicke in the "Blurred Lines" suit.
Click to expand...

What's the story here?

On topic, that does sound like they sampled the opening 5 bars of that Ring the Bell song. I understand nothing about music infringement. How much can you borrow from another song or songs before its considered infringement?
 
T

TheOohChild

Member
Kinitari said:
Oooh, interesting. It's not a direct sample from what I can tell - the amount of ouh's is different. But it sounds very similar, and it is pretty unique sounding.

I wonder, if someone hears that and thinks "that's a cool sound, but it would be better if it was changed like this and like that" is that infringing?
Click to expand...

It's only one extra ooh, so they could have just taken a second sample of the final ooh and used some kind of sustain effect to draw it out.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Not only is the vocal sample mostly unchanged (we're talking Vanilla Ice "DUN-dun dun dun DA-DA-Dun Dun" levels of 'difference') but the structure of the song is pretty similar. Hinterlands is slower, and the drums are different, but the way the song jumps from that vocal sample to that similar-ish drum-pattern in contrast, and then builds back up from there...

Yeah, she's got a really good case to make that Skrillex heard this song, snagged the sample, and decided to improve the general idea of what Hinterland did before putting Bieber's voice on the top of it.
 
T

TheYanger

Member
ehh, It SOUNDS similar, like, the first few vocalizations sound basically the same, but then there's an extra bit on the end in Sorry and it drops off and does it again. I mean, I'm not remotely a musical expert so I can't use any proper terms for this shit, but like, if you listen to those side by side it's not possible to mistake one for the other beyond maybe half a second each time that sound is made.

If half of one vocalization that just happens to repeat a lot being the same is infringement, then sure I guess. I don't really know. If it's not then fuck it, they're definitely not 'exactly the same' like some people are saying.

Also, that song is fucking awful holy shit.
 
G

Galang

Banned
The vocal sample is super similar. I was going to say that was the extent, but on ring the bell there's a really sparse synth that creeps in and out at some point too. A similar synth is present in sorry with almost the exact same execution in timing. Interesting.. This is definitely ripped off. There's a bunch of other similarities as well. You can find this in most songs, but this one is too on the nose
 
P

psynergylover

Member
first time actually watching the Sorry vid.......O_O!!! might need to watch that again,,,



OT: that women about to get paid! definitely stole her hook
 
B

Briarios

Member
It's also quite possible that one if them stole it without the others knowledge, presenting it as original. I mean, they're both still responsible, but Bieber may just not have known.
 
J

jonezer4

Member
When you consider Sam Smith had to pay Tom Petty out the ass (including giving him a songwriting credit) for using a similar relative melody (sung by a different musician, with different lyrics, in a different key), I don't see how this blatant rip could go unpunished.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
Yeah I can hear the similarity, though I would probably hit dislike on that song if I had just heard it at random. It could use some work.
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Sounds extremely similar.

ProfessorLobo said:
You're talking about the less than one second clip that contains five high pitched notes?
Click to expand...

Are you saying that because it's not longer, that it can't sound identical? Not sure what length has anything to do with this.
 
L

Leona Lewis

Banned
By contrast, Beyonce has become so careful about this that she credited Animal Collective for the single phrase "material things":

20e327bce2.png


Too bad she's not as vigilant when it comes to MV concepts :p
 
V

VendettaRed07

Member
It's the fact that the progression is basically the same, just more uptempo combined with the fact that voice in the background does the same exact thing.

Had one or the other been in there I wouldn't have thought anything of it. But it seems like it was stolen.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Briarios said:
It's also quite possible that one if them stole it without the others knowledge, presenting it as original. I mean, they're both still responsible, but Bieber may just not have known.
Click to expand...

This seems pretty plausible, to me.

"Skrillex gave me a beat! It's fuckin cool!"

Skrillex getting that Bieber payday by trawling YouTube for a cool idea and lifting it, putting in like 8 hours work and then selling it.
 
J

JakeD

Member
my theory on this is they were straight up using that song as a sample, until some suit said "hey if we just re-record that with our own singers we can save some $$ on sample fees"
 
R

radios shipping overview

Member
It's sampled from the beginning of "Ring the Bell" and reversed at the end so that one of the "oh"s at the end is played again in reverse. There's some harsh reverb and maybe a little chorusing added to it, but it's the same sample. The sample plays the same role throughout the song in "Sorry" as it does in "Ring the Bell." It's a significant usage and the original artist should be paid for it.
 
P

Phased

Member
Pretty blatantly sampled with the final one just being tacked on at the end (to my ears)

Ladies about to get paid. That song is/was everywhere, the revenue from it must be nuts.
 
M

Meier

Member
aku:jiki said:
Lawd have mercy does that Ring the Bell song suck... What an obnoxious cacophony of terrible sounds. I guess I'm a Bieber supporter for the first time in my life.
Click to expand...
I couldn't get through much more than a minute of it when I listened this morning. She has a terrible voice and was off key constantly. Super bizarre. There is merit for her lawsuit though -- the female hook is incredibly similar.
 
R

Ruruja

Member
TheYanger said:
ehh, It SOUNDS similar, like, the first few vocalizations sound basically the same, but then there's an extra bit on the end in Sorry and it drops off and does it again. I mean, I'm not remotely a musical expert so I can't use any proper terms for this shit, but like, if you listen to those side by side it's not possible to mistake one for the other beyond maybe half a second each time that sound is made.
Click to expand...

It's the exact same vocal, you can tell. Skrillex or whoever was producing it has just added a couple of effects to the sound and reversed the final "oh" at the end (something you can easily do in any DAW) which accounts for the extra part you can hear.

That's how it sounds to me anyways.
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

....was my reaction as soon as I opened the video. xD There's a striking resemblance.

EDIT: Man, the rest of that song is....yucky >_<
 
B

BamfMeat

Member
Cat Party said:
It's not the same. The last note is different.

Even if it was the same, these lawsuits are terrible. It's just a riff.
Click to expand...

The fuck?

This really IS some serious Vanilla Ice shit.

"It's totally different! We changed one beat!" That's not freaking different!
 
M

Milchjon

Member
Wow, that song is fucking awful. And I'm not talking about Bieber.

She should be grateful someone took the only salvageable part and made it not shit
 
E

Eumi

Member
I mean they're very similar but I'm really not buying that they stole anything. It's not really a very distinct progression or anything.
 
B

bryehn

Member
That is a straight sample. Assuming it's not from an actual sample pack, they'll have to pay . Probably would have cost next to nothing to license in the first place.
 
2

23qwerty

Member
kitchenmotors said:
I don't think this case is clear cut, imo. Doesn't sound like it was sampled, just expanded upon.

And curious why Blood (Formally Blood Diamonds) isn't mentioned in the suit. He co-produced this song as well. I know people here like to shit on Justin and Skrillex, but Blood is a decent guy and a really good producer. I don't think this sorta thing would have been up his alley, in terms of just outright stealing.
Click to expand...
oh wtf I didn't know he changed his name
 
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