KARISHMA D'MELLO
PLAGIARISM
THROUGH THE AGES
THROUGH
THE
AGES
PLAGIARISM
Music’s Most Notorious Copyright Cases
There’s a fine line between plagiarism and inspiration, and it’s a line courts have found themselves drawing for years now, in
one copyright battle after the other. As artists sub consciously and intentionally continue borrow elements from each other,
their jobs are only going to get harder.
In light of this prolonged predicament, let’s have a look at the precedent set by some of music’s most notorious copyright cases.
1. The year: 1972
The artists: Led Zeppelin vs Willie Dixon
The songs: Bring it On Home vs Bring it On Home; Whole Lotta Love vs You
Need Love
Claiming that Whole Lotta Love blatantly borrowed lyrics
from You Need Love, and Bring it On Home was heavily
inspired by Sonny Boy Wiliamson’s original track, William
Dixon sued the band twice for copyright infringement in 1972
and later on in 1985.
Both of these suits were settled out of court by the artists
themselves, and both of Led Zeppelin’s tracks now feature
William Dixon in the songwriter credits.
2. The year: 1985
The artists: John Fogerty vs Creedence Clearwater Revival
The songs: The Old Man Down the Road vs Run Through the Jungle
After Fogerty split from CCR and Fantasy Records (the record
label) in 1972, he released his own album in 1985, where he
faced the curious accusation of plagiarising his own work
from Run Through the Jungle, a song CCR had recorded back
in 1970.
from the two artists. Funnily enough, Vanilla Ice did attempt
to defend his melody on the grounds of having added an extra
beat. He later passed it off as a joke, but either way it didn’t
hold up in court.
4. The year: 1997
The artists: The Verve vs The Rolling Stones
The songs: Bittersweet Symphony vs The Last Time
The backing track for Bittersweet Symphony had been
partially sampled from The Last Time, through a mutual
agreement between both bands. However, on the claim that
The Verve had sampled more than agreed upon in their
contract, they had to forfeit all royalties they had earned on
the song.
They were sued for a second time in 1999 for “mechanical
royalties” by another manager for The Rolling Stones.
Perhaps, the most tragic part of this tale was when Bittersweet
Symphony was nominated for a Grammy with the names
“Mick Jagger” and “Keith Richards”. It is also interesting (and
heart-breaking) to note that David Whitaker, the man who
arranged the orchestra for the symphony was not credited on
either of the records.
After a demonstration on his guitar, Fogerty managed to prove
that the two songs had completely different compositions, and
even went on to win a countersuit against Fantasy Records for
legal costs. 5. The year: 2014
3. The year: 1990 In March 2015, both Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay
$5.3 million dollars and 50% of all future royalties to Marvin
Gaye’s family. In particular, the bass, the chatter, the cowbell
and other factors involved in the studio arrangement for the
song were considered far too similar to Gaye’s Got to Give it
Up, earning the family one of the largest monetary victories in
music copyright’s history.
The artists: Vanilla Ice vs Queen & David Bowie
The songs: Ice Ice Baby vs Under Pressure
The iconic bass hook won both Queen and David Bowie
songwriter credits on Vanilla Ice’s hit song. While copyright
disputes usually fall into a somewhat grey area, there were
no doubts regarding whether or not Vanilla Ice had borrowed
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The
Score Magazine
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The artists: Robin Thicke & Pharrell Williams vs Marvin Gaye
The songs: Blurred Lines vs Got to Give it Up