The Week in Light & Sound
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Blurred Lines - Ryan Tedder has written some of pop's biggest hits, including Beyonce's Halo, Ed Sheeran's Happier and, for his own band OneRepublic, Counting Stars. But he says pop is in danger of being stifled by the rise in copyright cases. "It's a conversation in every writing session," he told the BBC. "The odds of getting sued in this day and age are so high, we're going to get to a point where nobody can write anything - because everything will be derivative of something else. It's just ludicrous."
There's been a surge in copyright claims ever since Marvin Gaye's family sued Robin Thicke over the single Blurred Lines in 2015. They successfully claimed Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Gaye's 1977 hit Got to Give It Up - winning $4.98m (£3.9m) in damages and a 50% share of future royalties.
Blurred Lines set new precedents on copyright cases, as it was found to copy the "feel", rather than the melody, of Gaye's hit. Since then, artists including Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Madonna and Miley Cyrus have all been tied up in costly legal proceedings.
Future Plans - A musical stage adaptation of Back to the Future will open in Manchester next year prior to a West End transfer, it has been announced. The show is being brought to the stage by producer Colin Ingram alongside the creators of the original film, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. First mooted in 2014, the musical has music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, and a book by Gale. Director Jamie Lloyd had previously been linked to the project, however he withdrew citing creative differences.
Back to the Future will open at Manchester’s Opera House in February 2020, running until 17 May. The producers said it will then transfer to the West End. The show will have choreography by Chris Bailey, illusions by Paul Kieve and musical supervision and vocal arrangements by Nick Finlow. Design will be by Tim Hatley, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Gareth Owen and video by Finn Ross.
(Jim Evans)
21 May 2019
