Joanna Demers quoted on the copyright lawsuit against Bruno Mars

Joanna Demers, chair of the USC Thornton Musicology program, was quoted in a Pitchfork article about a recently filed lawsuit against Bruno Mars for his song “Uptown Funk.” Demers argues that “intention really does matter” when it comes to whether or not Mars plagiarized Collage’s song, “Young Girls”.

Demers, whose research and teaching interests include popular and experimental music since 1945, has previously weighed in on the music copyright fight involving Robin Thicke and Pharrell William’s 2013 mega-hit, “Blurred Lines,” for a number of international media outlets.