[Flips cap around and sits backward on chair.] “Hey, kids! You ready to fleek with the fourth grade? It’s gonna be bae, right? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna Mr. Krabs meme all over your elementary school experience. Learning is fun! Here, watch my YouTube video.”
Kidding aside, Dwayne Reed does seem like he’d provide a fun fourth grade experience, and his video welcoming his new class is extremely adorable. This is filling all of our dreams of Will Smith teaching us fractions.
But could Reed also be teaching his kids…plagiarism???
At the end of the description of his YouTube video, the Hounds Ltd. (who produced the song), writes, “It has come to our attention that Mr. Reed’s song has a melody very similar to Michael Jackson’s ‘I Will Be There.’ The artist did not intend to steal, rip, riff, or mimic Mr. Jackson’s song, but apparently, powerful songs and their sounds can remain lodged in people’s memory even decades after they’ve been released or heard. As to avoid any controversy or issues, Mr. Reed has chosen not to sell his ‘Welcome to the 4th Grade’ song, opting only to use it as a fun way to connect with his students and start the school year with some excitement!”
We think they mean “Will You Be There” from Free Willy, because there’s no way this sounds like the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.”
Then again, copyright law wasn’t covered until at least the fifth grade, so we’re not going to hold it against them.