Is Musical Originality Over?
The Blurred Lines Between Human and AI Musical Creation
Calling all fans of music and copyright! Judith Finell, the testifying musicologist in the “Blurred Lines” case, will discuss questions of originality and infringement in music, including the analysis she employed to persuade the jury to decide in favor of the Gaye Estate in that case. From there she will walk us through subsequent music cases and explain how evolving norms of musical originality have impacted the way copyright disputes are assessed and presented in court. Last but not least, Ms. Finell will address the impact of the AI revolution on musical creativity.
Judith Finell is a musicologist and has served as an expert witness and consultant in many milestone music copyright disputes throughout the U.S. and abroad. She also advises film, television, advertising, media and tech companies and has been the music supervisor and consultant on such recent films as “Sinners.”
Ms. Finell was the testifying expert for the winning Marvin Gaye Estate against Pharrell Williams in the “Blurred Lines” trial in federal district court. She speaks often on music creativity protection topics at professional conferences and associations, including the impact of AI on musical protection. She gave a TedX talk in 2024 on the topic of AI in music to a Silicon Valley audience. She teaches forensic musicology at UCLA for law, musicology, and music industry students.
Ms. Finell holds an M.A. degree in musicology from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. from UCLA in piano performance. She has written numerous articles and a book in the area of contemporary music and copyright infringement.
Moderated by Jacqueline Charlesworth
Partner, Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz PC
CLE materials:
Williams v. Gaye, 895 F. 3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2018)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5515551642319378575&q=gaye+v+williams&hl=en&as_sdt=2006
Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran, 120 F.4th 1066 (2d Cir. 2024)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=812093696039408481&q=structured+assets+sheeran&hl=en&as_sdt=2006
Articles by Judith Finell
This event is eligible for 1.0 California MCLE credit.
