"Stealing" or "Borrowing"


Svanholm
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Joined: 01/19/12
Posts: 184
Svanholm
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Joined: 01/19/12
Posts: 184
07/28/2013 12:55 pm
What do you guys think about when it comes to using other guys licks when you make your own songs?

I can see how its usefull to use licks from GT or guys on youtube, etc, when you are practising or jaming and so on.

But using famous players licks when making a song that you later put on youtube or record.

Is it okay for you to use a lick straight up or maybe change it up a bit?

How do you deal with it when it comes to moral?
# 1
SebastBerg
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Joined: 02/01/10
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SebastBerg
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07/28/2013 11:26 pm
Here's a sentence I heard Gutherie Govan say in a licklibrary webcast

"If you steal from one person it's theft; if you steal from lots of people it's research"

:)
# 2
JeffS65
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Joined: 10/07/08
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JeffS65
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Posts: 1,602
07/29/2013 12:41 am
Eddie Van Halen said that 'every riff has been done twice' and Steve Earle said that 'when you aren't feeling totally original, it's ok to creatively graft from others so long is it becomes your own.

So...if you steal a whole riff, then not cool. If a riff inspires you to build from that vibe, why not?
# 3
Slipin Lizard
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Slipin Lizard
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07/30/2013 11:04 pm
I remember ages ago when I was a kid, one of the first records I bought was "Harder/Faster" by April Wine. I was shocked when I listed to the tune "I Like to Rock" towards the end, where they blatantly used the riff from "Day Tripper" by the Beatles and "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. I guess it was more of a homage thing, so no one cared.

Later, when I was in a band, I wrote a song that had a bit of Edge/U2 flavor. Everyone really liked the opening riff, and I got lots of compliments on it. I later divulged that the riff had actually come from a telephone commercial soundtrack I'd seen on TV.

Its hard to tell sometimes where the line will be drawn. Look at the "Bitter Sweet Symphony" lawsuit. I agree with Jeff though. Maybe just try and ask yourself is it influencing your playing, or are you copying it? But then again, if you do something like sequencing in fours in a minor pentatonic scale... who could claim that was their "riff"?
# 4
Vinslom Bardy
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Vinslom Bardy
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08/01/2013 12:03 am
@Lizard: But the Bittersweet Symphony fiasco was about the use of Richard Ashcroft's SAMPLING of copyrighted material, not simply creating a riff that SOUNDED like the Stone's tune. Based on some of the things I've read, Ashcroft was strongly advised to alter the sample in some way (because of the plagiarism risk), shape or form, but he refused.

Anyway, not to hijack the original thread...I think you'll know when you've crossed that line from "being inspired by..." vs. "ripping off from...". There is VERY LITTLE that is truly original in art. Nearly everything creative owes itself, at least in part, to those who inspired the artist to begin with.

Cheers!
# 5

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