Being accused of plagiarism in the music industry is no laughing matter. Once that word has been tossed around, it can be very hard for an artist or musician to shake the stigma that goes along with it. A recent example of this is people claiming that Katy Perry’s Roar track is pretty much a direct ripoff of the Sara Bareilles song, Brave. Thing is, Sara doesn’t seem particularly upset by it. In this instance, it seems more of a case of her fans being upset with Perry. With this story all over the web right now, we thought it might be a good time to list some other bands and artists who were accused of plagiarism at one time. Honestly, a few of these might surprise you. We know they sure surprised us. Especially the last one.
Coldplay: Believe it or not, Coldplay have been accused (and brought to court for) plagiarism more than once. The most pressing example being Vida La Vida being a direct ripoff of the melody in the Joe Satriani track, If I Could Fly. Seriously, listen to the two side by side and see for yourself. It really is the exact same song, shamefully. A judge ended up agreeing with Satriani.
Radiohead: Very few die-hard Radiohead fans know this, but the band was brought to court by a band called The Hollies for using one of their melodies. Radiohead’s Creep song is said to borrow the same chords as The Air That I Breathe, by The Hollies. Apparently, the court agreed, as two band members from The Hollies are now listed under the Creep songwriting credits in the Pablo Honey album notes. For shame, Radiohead. I thought you were better than this.
Led Zeppelin: Real music fans who know, KNOW that Led Zeppelin took most of their riffs from old blues classics, but one blues singer wasn’t so happy with Whole Lotta Love, and sued the band, claiming it was taken from his song, You Need Love. Singer Willie Dixon ended up being listed as co-writer for the track in the bands notes. That seems to be how a lot of these stories end.
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Ray Parker JR: You may all remember this guy from his Ghostbusters theme, but I bet you didn’t know Huey Lewis sued him for Plagiarism because of how similar the song was to Lewis’ hit, I Want A New Drug. This one played out rather strange, As Lewis ended up bringing up the case on VH1, breaching the confidentiality clause, and causing Ray Parker JR to then sue him. There sure was a lot of suing going on. They are the same song, though, which was later further proven by the admission that Parker was given the Lewis song to listen to as inspiration when penning his theme to the movie. Who you gonna call? Song Stealers!
Avril Lavigne: The song Avril was sued for was a song called Girlfriend, which was a direct thievery of a song called I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by a 70’s band named The Rubinoos. Though she was never found guilty, the singer reached an “undisclosed” settlement out of court. What that means in non-lawyer speak is, Avril knew she was wrong and probably would have lost the case, so she just pulled the band aside and gave them a briefcase full of money to never talk about it again.
The Beach Boys: Most people don’t seem to know that Chuck Berry sued The Beach Boys for Plagiarism for using his music from Sweet Little Sixteen for their song, Surfin’ U.S.A. Note if you look at The Beach Boys album, now Berry has songwriting credits. Some artists and musicians just leave that alone, but Chuck Berry has sued MANY big name acts in his time for plagiarism, and almost always winning.
Alicia Keys: In what may be the most recent example of plagiarism on the list, seems Alicia Keys is currently being brought to court for copyright infringement involving her song Girl On Fire. Singer Eddie Holman claims that the R&B singer reworked his 60’s track, Hey There Lonely Girl. This one is still going on, so how it plays out no one knows yet
The Strokes: Okay, we are including this one more for how obvious it is, even knowing the original artist laughs about it. The Strokes song, Last Night, from their debut album, is pretty much the exact same song as American Girl by Tom Petty. So much so, in fact, the two have literally identical intros. The Strokes have gone on to admit this, and Petty has said he finds it funny, so I guess plagiarism all comes down to the sense of humor of whoever is being ripped off.
John Fogerty: We were embattled whether or not to begin the list or end the list with this, seeing as to how it is the greatest and most insane example of a plagiarism law suit, but we decided to end with it so it stays with you. John Fogerty, lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival, was sued by his former manager once he left the band for making music that sounded too much like music HE MADE. Yes, you read that correctly. John Fogerty got sued by his former management for ripping off his own music. Fogerty was a genius, though, and brought his guitar to court with him. Right there, on the stand, he played the two songs, side by side, and showed the jury they weren’t, indeed, the same song. In that single moment, he won the only case of someone ever being brought to court for ripping themselves off.
Blows the mind, huh?
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