#alternate alternate BBC Accessibility links * Skip to content * Accessibility Help BBC iD Notifications BBC navigation * Home * Home * News * News * Sport * Weather * Shop * Earth * Travel * Capital * iPlayer * Culture * Autos * Future * TV * Radio * CBBC * CBeebies * Food * iWonder * Bitesize * Travel * Music * Earth * Arts * Make It Digital * Taster * Nature * Local * Tomorrow's World * Menu Search Search the BBC ____________________ (BUTTON) Search the BBC News BBC News Navigation Sections * Home * Video * World * UK * Business * Tech * Science * Stories * Entertainment & Arts selected * Health * World News TV * In Pictures * Paradise Papers * Reality Check * Special Reports * Explainers * The Reporters * Have Your Say Entertainment & Arts Entertainment & Arts Burt Bacharach calls for change in music plagiarism law * 3 August 2017 * Share this with Facebook * Share this with Twitter * Share this with Messenger * Share this with Messenger * Share this with Email * Share Share this with These are external links and will open in a new window + Email Share this with Email + Facebook Share this with Facebook + Messenger Share this with Messenger + Messenger Share this with Messenger + Twitter Share this with Twitter + Pinterest Share this with Pinterest + WhatsApp Share this with WhatsApp + LinkedIn Share this with LinkedIn Copy this link http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40813002 Read more about sharing. These are external links and will open in a new window (BUTTON) Close share panel Ed Sheeran, Burt Bacharach and Pharrell Williams Image copyright Reuters/Getty Images Image caption L to R: Ed Sheeran, Burt Bacharach and Pharrell Williams Veteran songwriter Burt Bacharach has called for a change in the law over music plagiarism. He said recent court cases - like the ones involving Blurred Lines and Ed Sheeran's Photograph - have made it a difficult time for songwriters. Bacharach, 89, said a panel of music experts should be used to decide on copyright issues. He told BBC News that he has seen "bad decisions made" and said the current situation was "messy". * Is the threat of a lawsuit stifling music? * Ed Sheeran settles copyright claim In one high-profile copyright infringement case, US jurors ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had copied Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up in their song Blurred Lines. The Gaye family estate was awarded $7.3 million (£4.8 million) in damages, though an appeal has since been launched. Earlier this year, Ed Sheeran settled a $20m (£13.8m) copyright infringement claim against him in the US over his hit song Photograph. 'Not perfect science' Bacharach, a multiple Grammy and Oscar winner is famed for such classics as I Say A Little Prayer and Close to You, said it was "a delicate matter". "It's not a perfect science," he told the BBC's Colin Paterson. "I think what needs to be done is there has to be maybe three, four outstanding experts, musicologists, who can be trusted, who can differentiate and say 'that's derivative, that's not derivative'." Image copyright PA Image caption Ed Sheeran settled a copyright infringement claim earlier this year Bacharach explained that with a limited number of notes, some songs were bound to be similar. "It's one octave you've got to play with. Some songs sound like others. Things are messy enough in the world of pop music and records and downloads, free music and things like that." Bacharach said there were samples on "top records" - including those that used some of his original work. "There's a version of Close to You by Frank Ocean that's almost literally - well, it's the same title, you can't copyright a title - musically, it's almost note for note with [the original] Close to You. Image caption The acclaimed songwriter played Glastonbury in 2015 "So that becomes a situation. It's not a lawsuit - they just have to pay more money because it's more usage than a sample." Bacharach has written a new musical with Steven Sater that marks his first original score for the theatre since 1968's Promises Promises. Some Lovers - described as "a contemporary parable about the gifts we give one another" - runs at The Other Palace in central London from 24 August to 2 September. Burt Bacharach can be heard talking to Colin Paterson on BBC Radio 5 live's Afternoon Edition from 13:00 BST on Thursday and later on the BBC's iPlayer. __________________________________________________________________ Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. Related Topics * Music Share this story About sharing * Email * Facebook * Messenger * Messenger * Twitter * Pinterest * WhatsApp * LinkedIn More on this story * Burt Bacharach: 'I'm hard on my music' 14 July 2015 * Is the threat of a copyright lawsuit stifling music? 12 July 2017 * Ed Sheeran settles Photograph copyright infringement claim 10 April 2017 * Pop genius of composer Bacharach 12 May 2004 Around the BBC * Burt Bacharach - BBC Music Related Internet links * Some Lovers - The Other Palace The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites Top Stories Raid on Venezuela pilot ends in bloodshed The ex-policeman is accused of leading an armed rebellion involving a helicopter and grenades. 15 January 2018 Turkey denounces US 'terror army' plan 15 January 2018 Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan dies 15 January 2018 Features Still Friends? 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