Report: Funk Band Collage Sues Over 'Uptown Funk'

“Uptown Funk” collaborators Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars are being sued for alleged copyright infringement, according to TMZ. Collage, a funk band that released music in the early 1980s, filed the complaint.

According to Billboard, the group claims “Uptown Funk” and its own 1983 song “Young Girls” are “almost indistinguishable” and states that Ronson and Mars have previously mentioned being influenced by early ‘80s Minneapolis electro-funk and soul music.



The complaint, obtained by Pitchfork, specifies the following: “Upon information and belief, many of the main instrumental attributes and themes of ‘Uptown Funk’ are deliberately and clearly copied from ‘Young Girls,’ including, but not limited to, the distinct funky specifically noted and timed consistent guitar riffs present throughout the compositions, virtually if not identical bass notes and sequence, rhythm, structure, crescendo of horns and synthesizers rendering the compositions almost indistinguishable if played over each other and strikingly similar if played in consecutively.”