Billboard Magazine reported today that Charlie, Robert and Ronnie Wilson of The Gap Band have now received both songwriting credit and a share of royalties for the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit, “Uptown Funk” – the biggest song of 2015, with sales of over 5 million copies.
Back in March, Charlie Wilson stated during an interview with WBLS in New York that the Gap Band would be seeking compensation and credit for what they felt was appropriation by “Uptown Funk” of parts of their song “Oops Upside the Head.” As Wilson then said, “The musicologist came back and said it was ‘Oops Upside The Head’ and now they have to pay.” Both the opening of “Uptown Funk” and the rap later in the song (around 2:45) do share elements with the 1979 Gap Band smash – though the line between “misappropriated’ and “inspired by” here is…umm…kind of blurred (pun intended).
For the complete article, visit http://www.soultracks.com/story-gap-band-uptown-funk-settlement
