Did 'Glee' Steal Cover from College Choir?

By Zach Dionne Posted May 20th 2011 10:35AM

'Glee' tunes set to be featured in the season finale hit the internet yesterday, and collegiate a capella aficionados are crying foul over a suspiciously familiar cover of Usher hit 'Yeah!'

"Sources within a cappella circles with ties to [University of Oregon choir] Divisi have confirmed to me that the show did not have the full cooperation from the group and original arranger," reports Alex Rabinowitz at Pop Culture Brain. "'Glee' had reached out to the group and were working on a deal only for it to fall apart at the last minute, with 'Glee' going ahead and doing their version of the song anyway."

'Glee' has notably worked with the Tufts Beelzebubs before, without incident.

Pop Culture Brain dubs the similarities in the two a capella arrangements of 'Yeah!' "eerily similar." The site goes on to write:

"Glee strolls a fine line between honoring music and bastardizing it. The a cappella community is a tight-knit, but not often heard subculture that has benefited greatly from its recent exposure on shows like 'Glee' and 'The Sing Off.' Hopefully network television and a cappella can continue to work together for the betterment of both."

PopEater is awaiting comment from FOX.

What do you think? Listen to the songs here and tell us if you think foul play is afoot, or if covering something a capella is just bound to sound this similar.

Tags: Glee

Comments

(29)

Friday 20 May

By laura22122

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I love Glee, so I don't really care. They should be flattered.

By Rob

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Glee is unoriginal?

By ATLgroove

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At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure Usher is ok with glee using his material. And, ultimately, I think that's what's important. He seemed to be ok with them mashing his "Confessions" with Bon Jovi's "it's My Life." So why not a cover of a cover of his song?

By ttrexxx

who wrote this ..isn't that what glee does..copies of the original..the writers here should get a clue and a job

By Dansephreak

The only people whose permission was ACTUALLY required, would be the folks who hold the rights to the song, and that is definitely NOT Divisi. If the Glee producers, "reached out to the group" it was a courtesy call not a requirement. Sorry Zach but this story makes no sense.

By Morgan Simpson

It's not the song that the group is worried about it's the arrangement of the song. Divisi arranged an a Capella version of 'Yeah' back in 2005 then later released it on their 2008 album 'Undivided' Divisi does own the copyright to that arrangement.

By Bobbie

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Did they pay Usher, the writer of the song, the lyricists the producer etc for the rights to rework the song and record it?

Aftewr Sister Act 2 every church choir, gospel choir,, college and HS glee club sang that version of Joyful Joyful and NO ONE gave credit to the arranger. You can bet on that. The University of Oregon Choir needs to get over themselves. Fox won't reach out to them ever again.

By Zanzan

Divisi doesn't own the copyright of the acappella arrangement (a derivative work of a copyrighted song) unless the copyright owner of the original song specifically granted them the copyright to the derivative work (which is not usually the case, unless significant dollars changed hands). If that is the case, and Glee is recording the song, they don't actually need permission even from the original copyright holder; they only need to pay the statutory fees involved for mechanical and synchronization licenses for the audio and video recordings to the copyright holder of the original work.

By lillei55

Of course both versions of the song are going to be "suspiciously" similar ... they are both renditions of Usher's song. And frankly neither really deviate from the arrangements in the original. Neither transformed the song into something distinctive in my opinion. I don't know if anything sinister was intended on Glee's side. Are they not supposed to use a song because they got into a disagreement with another 'covering' artist?

By Karisas

Listen to both covers again. Listen for the shout-outs to other songs ("from the windows to the wall," etc.) and for the (improvised) runs. They're all identical. I've loved Divisi's cover for years and know it inside and out. I could literally sing along with every bit of the Glee version from the very first time I listened to it because it's so identical.

By LISA

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I THINK GLEE SOUNDED ALOT BETTER. THEY DID NOT SOUND ALIKE AT ALL YOU COULD TELL THE DIFFERENTS IN THE TWO GROUPS. AND WHO CARES THAT BOTH DID THE SAME SONG.

By HANNAH.

This really makes me mad. It wouldn't have been such a huge deal if they would've actually worked out a deal thoroughly with Divisi.

By heyyy

theres only so much you can do with that song....

Saturday 21 May

By Mary

Glee is the dumbest and most boring idea for a TV show other than the reality fodder that currently exists. I don't understand the attraction to the lame idea about a show based on high school glee club in prime time. It has about as much of a plot as pulling weeds in my yard. This show needs to bite the dust of paperback music books.

By Ron in NY

Well, it IS refreshing to see SOMETHING in prime time in which no one is murdered.

By Kelso Horror

GLEE does not own the rights to this song.
University Of Oregon Chor Do'nt own the rights to this song.
If U of Oregon goes sues Glee, they're going to laughed out of court.

By nowwhatdidido

A cover of a song sounding like another cover? WHOA!!! That is most definitely a right infringement! Who would have thought that that could ever happen in a million years....it's just unheard of!!! Please! Reality check, people! And yes, you can cash it!

By cmdolphin69

Not at all similar and Glee sounds a zillion times better. ps - Mary... you must live in a hole somewhere... it is the most original uplifting fun show that has been on tv.

By Barb

Amen I love Glee and it seems no matter what song they cover they are awesome and equal to or better then the originals to me

By English

No surprise here, the producer of the show thinks he should always hear emphatic agreement to his requests. Kings Of Leon refused to allow him to use one of their songs and he had a tantrum. Even accused the group member who responded to him of being homophobic, although HE insulted the man when refused ...

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