Several massive 2010s hits reworked seventies funk songs nearly note for note

Evidence

“Blurred Lines” wasn’t an anomaly. Similar 1970s musical conventions appeared in Bruno Mars’s colossal 2014 hit, “Uptown Funk,” which faced its own accusations of plagiarism. The Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head” from 1979 later claimed 17 percent of royalties, while Collage’s 1983 track “Young Girls” prompted a lawsuit that was quietly settled. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 380

Categorization

• CANDY: A concrete, tweetable detail: ‘Uptown Funk’ paid the Gap Band 17 percent of royalties, and ‘Blurred Lines’ lost a plagiarism suit.