Brief History of Song Copying, From Handel to Pharrell

geechiedan

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
28-pharrell.w700.h467.jpg


“A good composer does not imitate; he steals,” Igor Stravinsky once said. So it goes for music, with performers and songwriters pilfering, directly or indirectly, melodies, chord progressions, lyrics, and more, well before songs were written down. We don’t know when the first accusations of music borrowing were levied, but we do have this timeline of some of the most famous, and often ridiculous, examples.

1722
George Handel, author of “Messiah” and “Water Music,” is publicly accused by fellow composer Johann Mattheson of stealing melodies. Later scholars say Handel heavily “borrowed” from many other works. Mattheson and Handel had quite a relationship — they were friendly, but also nearly killed each other in an opera-house duel. A button on Handel’s coat saved him from Mattheson’s sword.

1783
Mozart debuts his Symphony No. 37 in G major. It’s mostly copied from Haydn’s Symphony No. 25 in G major, written that same year, though the copying isn’t discovered until 1907.

1844
Millett v. Snowden becomes the first known music-copyright-infringement case in the United States. The music for the song in question, “The Cot Beneath the Hill,” was reprinted without copyright in the Ladies Companionmagazine, and the Southern District of New York awarded the plaintiff $625 over the breach.

1939
South African singer Solomon Linda records the Zulu-chanting “Mbube,” which later becomes the Tokens’ doo-wop hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Linda, who sold the rights to the song for £1, died in 1962 in poverty, though his heirs later successfully claimed the royalties to “Lion” from a publishing company and Disney, for its use in The Lion King, in a 2006 settlement.


1963
The music and melody from the Beach Boys release “Surfin USA” were lifted directly from Chuck Berry’s 1958 hit “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Berry got the copyright immediately, though Brian Wilson was credited as the sole author until 1966, with Berry subsequently listed as a co-writer.

1968
The Kinks discover that the Doors’ “Hello, I Love You” sounds a lot like their “All Day and All of the Night” riff. Singer Ray Davies initially only wanted Jim Morrison & Co. to cop to the lift, but he eventually sued, settling out of court.

1969
The Beatles’ “Come Together” features John Lennon singing “Here come ol’ flattop, he come groovin’ up slowly.” Lennon is later sued by Chuck Berry’s publisher, who accused him of stealing Berry’s “Here come a flattop, he was movin’ up with me” from 1956’s “You Can’t Catch Me.” Lennon settled out of court and agreed to record three Berry songs for upcoming albums, though he only released two in his lifetime, leading to more legal squabbles.

1969–2016
Led Zeppelin is known for habitually lifting songs, mostly from blues musicians, including: “Dazed and Confused,” “The Lemon Song,” “Whole Lotta Love,” “Bring It on Home,” and more. Over several decades, they settled a series of lawsuits and awarded writing credits. Their most recent suit alleged that they took “Stairway to Heaven” from the group Spirit’s 1968 instrumental “Taurus,” but a Los Angeles jury ruled in their favor in 2016.

1970
George Harrison’s first solo single “My Sweet Lord” is noted for similarities to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.” A legal battle ensues. Eventually, courts decided Harrison subconsciously copied the song and had to pony up $1.6 million, about 75 percent of the royalties, and portions of his album, All Things Must Pass. The drawn-out lawsuits weren’t settled until 1998.

1971
Isaac Hayes’s “Theme From Shaft” becomes the most iconic song in the blaxploitation genre, winning an Oscar and a Grammy. In 1985, he won $17,000 from Schlitz Brewing Co. after they used an obvious rip-off of it in a beer commercial.

1981
The Aussie band Men at Work have a hit with “Down Under,” which takes its flute riff from 1932’s “Kookaburra.” Years later, the copyright holder of the latter song, Larrikin, sued for infringement, ultimately winning 5 percent of “Down Under” royalties from 2002 onward.

1984
Huey Lewis alleges that Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is a rip-off of 1983’s “I Want a New Drug.” Funnily enough, Lewis was asked to write the Ghostbusters theme but declined in order to work on Back to the Future. They settled in 1995.

1985
John Fogerty releases “The Old Man Down the Road.” Fantasy Records, which owned the rights to all of his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, sues him for plagiarizing his 1970 hit “Run Through the Jungle.” Fogerty performed both songs in court and prevailed, then countersued to recoup his attorney’s fees, a right protected by the 1976 Copyright Act. The case was ultimately settled in his favor by the Supreme Court in 1994.

1988
Rod Stewart already had a copyright issue with his song “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” after it was found he copied parts of Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor’s “Taj Mahal.” That was settled amicably, as was Stewart’s next dustup, this time with Bob Dylan over “Forever Young.” Dylan, who’s faced his own issues of infringement for repurposing old songs in the “folk tradition,” wrote his “Forever Young” as a lullaby for his son, and Rod’s version had similar lyrics and melodies. Stewart agreed to the charge, splitting royalties with the Bard down the middle.

1989
Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” uses the bass riff from Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure,” though the rapper contended he added an extra note, making it different. Regardless, the classic rockers are awarded an out-of-court settlement for royalties and given songwriting credit.

1991
Kurt Cobain expressed reservations over releasing “Come As You Are,” as the opening riff is almost identical to Killing Joke’s 1984 song “Eighties.” It’s rumored that Killing Joke’s attempted lawsuit over the song either never made it to court or was dropped after Cobain’s suicide.

1992
After Radiohead’s “Creep” became a hit, songwriters Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood sued, saying it sounded too much like the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe” from 1972. They settled peacefully, sharing writing credits and an undisclosed sum. But Radiohead weren’t so copacetic when, in 2018, they sued Lana Del Rey for allegedly copying “Creep” on “Get Free.” Del Rey said Radiohead asked for 100 percent of the royalties and they eventually settled for a lesser, also-undisclosed amount.

1997
The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” uses a sample of Andrew Loog Oldham’s orchestral cover of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” The latter band’s former manager, Allen Klein, sued and won 100 percent of the royalties from the hit track, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards receiving writing credits. Verve singer Richard Ashcroft called “Bitter Sweet Symphony” the “best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years.”

1997
DJ Jubilee and Juvenile found themselves in a quandary over what the court called “the poetic four-word phrase ‘back that ass up.’” Both New Orleans rappers released songs on the topic around the same time, “Back That Ass Up” and “Back That Azz Up,” respectively, and a jury ultimately decided that Juvenile’s version was original enough to ward off any infringement claims. A similar suit from the group The Architectz is ongoing against Lil Jon over the phrase “Turn Down for What.”

2006-2015
Tom Petty somehow found himself in the middle of several plagiarism claims, though he generally didn’t seem to care much. He laughed off claims on social media that the Red Hot Chili Peppers took “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” for 2006’s “Dani California,” and pointed out that the Strokes admitted to copping “American Girl” for their hit “Last Nite.” In an amicable 2015 agreement, Petty and Jeff Lynne were awarded 12.5 percent of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” because it sounded like “I Won’t Back Down,” with Petty saying, “These things can happen.”

2007
For Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin’,” producer Timbaland sampled the song “Khosara Khosara” by the late Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi. Hamdi’s nephew tried suing them, first arguing that he held the copyright, though EMI had legally licensed it. He also claimed that Hova’s lyrics infringed on Hamdi’s “moral right” to not be associated with anything objectionable. Both claims were dismissed.

2008
Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” faced not one but three claims of plagiarism, one from guitarist Joe Satriani, whose lawsuit alleging the infringement of his instrumental “If I Could Fly” was tossed out. Another came from Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam over “Foreigner Suite.” The latter never went anywhere, with Islam saying, “They did copy my song but I don’t think they did it on purpose.” The most interesting case was filed by the band Creaky Boards, who said Chris Martin aped their track “The Songs I Didn’t Write.” It was later proved that Martin wrote “Viva” before Creaky Boards released their song, and the group admitted that both tracks were possibly inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda.

2011
Of the many ways Lady Gaga has been accused of ripping off Madonna, the most blatant example to fans is how much “Born This Way” sounds like Madge’s “Express Yourself.” Noting the similarities, Madonna called Gaga’s hit both “interesting” and “reductive,” but didn’t sue.

2014
Eminem’s camp sued the New Zealand National Party for using an instrumental soundalike of his hit “Lose Yourself” in a campaign ad. Em eventually won $225,000 NZ over it, possibly due to the fact that the track in question is named “Eminem Esque.”

2015
In one of the most infamous infringement cases, the estate of Marvin Gaye claimed Pharrell and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” ripped off “Got to Give It Up.” After the jury unanimously agreed, the Gayes won $7.4 million, shocking scores of prominent musicians and the industry at large.

https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/song-copying-history-handel-pharrell.html
 
You eventually will run out of ideas so you’re left to steal parts of others work or hire ghost producers.
 
1984
Huey Lewis alleges that Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is a rip-off of 1983’s “I Want a New Drug.” Funnily enough, Lewis was asked to write the Ghostbusters theme but declined in order to work on Back to the Future. They settled in 1995.

Huey got paid in a settlement under the condition that he never speak about it. (gag order)

But when he did Behind the Music he fucked up and spoke on it and Ray Parker Jr sued him. :lol:
 
1984
Huey Lewis alleges that Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is a rip-off of 1983’s “I Want a New Drug.” Funnily enough, Lewis was asked to write the Ghostbusters theme but declined in order to work on Back to the Future. They settled in 1995.

Huey got paid in a settlement under the condition that he never speak about it. (gag order)

But when he did Behind the Music he fucked up and spoke on it and Ray Parker Jr sued him. :lol:

Ghostbusters Theme - "I Ain't Afraid of Getting Sued!"
Updated: Sep 20, 2020 • INTERESTING

With the new Ghostbusters film announced and on the way, this is as good of a time as any to laugh at one of the classic instances of ridiculousness within the music industry.

In 1984, Ray Parker, Jr. topped the charts with his smash hit "Ghostbusters," the theme song from the movie of the same title. It entered the Billboard charts on June 16, 1984 at #68.

It wasn't just the US Hot 100 either... It jumped to #2 on the UK Singles charts as well and even re-entered the UK Top 75 in 2008! It even received an Academy Award nod for "Best Music for Original Song."

The point is, this song was fire and everyone knew it and money is still being made. Even more will be made with this new sequel coming out. Maybe that's why there's been an epic battle of back-and-forth lawsuits surrounding it... I'm sure there will be more in the next year or two.

How the Ghostbusters Theme Drama All Started

The producers for the Ghostbusters film knew they had an awesome project on their hands that was going down in history, only if they nailed every element... including the theme song.

First, they tapped Lindsey Buckingham. Lindsey had previously created the National Lampoon's Vacation theme song called "Holiday Road" that performed well for that movie and also featured Harold Ramis (Egon Spendler!) Lindsey passed because he was afraid he'd get type-casted musically as the "Soundtrack Guy."

With that denial in hand, the producers reached out to Huey Lewis who was absolutely slaying it at the time and would continue doing so. Lewis declined for various reasons, including the fact that his plate was full with his work on the Back to the Future soundtrack.

Okay... a lot of time is being wasted and the producers are in a pinch, so what do they do? They reach out to Ray Parker, Jr., known for his Motown work and collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Barry White, Aretha Franklin, and countless other huge acts. He agreed!

The problem? He only had 3 days to smash out the theme song...

Not a big deal, right? It's ya boy Ray Parker, Jr. He can get it done.

How the Ghostbusters Theme Song was Supposedly Written
Parker's version of the story goes like this...

The film producers tapped him for the theme song and gave him a 3 day deadline. He started trying to play around with the titular word Ghostbusters but he found it seemingly impossible to get inspired to write lyrics or create a concept from that.

As he was sitting around brainstorming, a commercial happened to come on the TV. It was on a local station for a small local service-based business. It caught his attention because, like the Ghostbusters, it was a team of guys who would go out and perform some typical service, like say... clean up flood damage and do basement restoration or capture ghosts. What really caught his ear was this business' jingle.

Boom, idea in place. He would create a fake radio jingle for the ghost-busting team as if it was for their real-life commercials.

That's what Ray Parker, Jr. claims anyways.

Let the Ghostbusters Song Drama Unfold
The song was quickly written and submitted back to the producers and they loved it. They started working on the music video, getting cameo appearances from all of the big celebrities of the day, like John Candy and Chevy Chase.

Things were going great! The video would help propel the song to the Top 10 charts of basically every country that could understand the English language. Even Run-D.M.C. remade the song!

Take a listen and look at the official video to get the song back in your head (trust me, you'll want to hear it for comparison purposes):



Video games were being produced on the Atari and Commodore 64 using the theme song. Not to mention this would go on all the way to the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. Lego picked it up and used it. It appeared on the Rock Band video game. It's appeared in countless other movies... It's a cultural staple now and this will never stop.

And that's why there was a huge problem when Huey Lewis finally heard the song...

Now remember, the producers asked Huey Lewis to make the theme song before Ray Parker, Jr. due to the popularity of Huey Lewis & The News. Lewis was pumping out hit after hit and the public was loving his style at the time. Earlier in 1984, about 5 months before, Huey Lewis released the album Sports.

The second single from the album was called "I Want a New Drug." It had already received it's marketing push and had reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Everyone knew the song and it was still getting attention later in the year. This song likely had a LOT to do with the Ghostbusters producers reaching out to Lewis. Back to the Future just nabbed him first.

So why are we talking about I Want a New Drug? Well, listen to this...



That sounds pretty familiar... Huey Lewis thought so too. So he immediately contacted his lawyer.

Now this is purely speculation, but one could begin to think that the producers told Ray Parker, Jr. to knock this song off for the Ghostbusters theme. I'm not saying it's true. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

THE START OF A NEVER-ENDING ROUND OF SUING & COUNTER-SUING
Huey Lewis strapped up and sued Ray Parker, Jr. and Columbia Pictures for plagiarism. The backstory was too intertwined for anyone to really question whether or not this was a blatant copy (the original had just been in the Top 10 of the charts!), so Columbia Pictures opted to settle out of court and cut Huey Lewis a fat check to keep him quiet.

Literally, Lewis was paid to not talk about it.

Word on the street is that this amount was $5,000,000 in cold hard cash for stealing his guitar riff, bass line, and other elements of the song.

Fast forward to 2001. VH1 did a Behind the Music show on Huey Lewis where he broke the confidentiality agreement to never ever speak again of this theft.

Wait... stolen work? You mean "I Want a New Drug" might not have been original either?!? Yep. That's what I'm saying, with the key word being might because I'd like to not get sued.

Stupidity Level Over 9000
Now check this out. For almost 30 years everyone has been hating on Ray Parker, Jr. and treating Huey Lewis like an innocent victim. Here's a little gem from the internet detectives out there that wasn't readily available or obvious before...

Rewind to 1979. A band called M released a song called Pop Muzik. It hit #2 on the UK charts, #1 in Canada, and #1 in the United States. And it went a little something like this:



So now you have to wonder who really wrote that bass line... You don't see Robin Scott, the creator of this song running around suing Lewis and Parker.

My Take on the Whole Thing
Here's how I see this whole thing:

  • Arista & Sony got paid and still are, especially with this new Ghostbusters sequel and still owning the rights to the theme song.
  • Ray Parker, Jr. got his fair share of the cash and fame.
  • Huey Lewis got his $5 million settlement agreement and got his karma (and more money) repaid with being a central obsession on the movie and soundtrack of American Psycho.
  • Robin Scott and his band M didn't get diddly squat!
Robin Scott, the guy who actually wrote the bulk of this friggin' song is the only guy not getting paid. I hopped over to Amazon and bought the CD that featured the original version of the song just to toss the guy a bone. The rest of the album isn't shabby either!


:lol: :smh::lol::smh::lol::smh:
 
Back
Top