It may indeed be 100X better. But if it fits the legal definition, than the ruling will stand.
It’s not a value judgement...it’s the stupid 6-note rule, which I find very hard to work around in my own composing. After all, there are only 12 notes in the Western Scale!
There may not have been any INTENTIONAL plagiarism at all, but the proliferation of loops, samples, beat-boxes, and canned sequences are going to make this happen more and more.
The Law is based on 20th century technology. We are now in the 21st. Maybe this “travesty”, as you call it, will stimulate change.
Bottom Line: This is MESSED UP.
It is NOT the same song. No one, ever would convince me that it is. Law be damned.
In the article, it said they were comparing FOUR note sequences... WTF?