Top 10 Songs Involved in Lawsuits
Music has the power to ignite emotions, inspire movements, and sometimes, stir up a bit of legal drama. Over the years, some of the biggest hits have found themselves at the center of courtroom battles, raising questions about originality, influence, and ownership in the creative process. These legal disputes can be as compelling as the songs themselves, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at how music is made, borrowed, or in some cases, allegedly stolen.
The Doors faced accusations of copying the riff from The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night." The dispute was reportedly settled informally without going to court.
Alice Cooper's publisher filed a lawsuit against Kiss, claiming that their song Dreamin' from the album Psycho Circus plagiarized I'm Eighteen. The case was settled out of court.
The band faced a lawsuit from the families of two young men who claimed that subliminal messages in the song led to their suicide attempt. The case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
A grocery store employee sued Green Day for allegedly writing the lyrics and composing the melodies for their album American Idiot. He rejected a settlement offer and filed a lawsuit, citing violations of federal trademark law and copyright infringement. The case was dismissed.
Hungarian singer Mitsou sued Beyoncé, claiming unauthorized use of her vocals in the song. The dispute involved allegations of sampling from Mitsou's track "Bajba, Bajba Pelem."
John Lennon was accused of copying the Chuck Berry song "You Can't Catch Me," leading to an out-of-court settlement. The case was settled by Lennon agreeing to record more songs owned by the plaintiff. Chuck Berry's publisher sued after John Lennon lifted the opening phrase "Here come old flat-top" from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me." Part of the settlement was that Lennon would record three of their songs, including "You Can't Catch Me," on his next album, which he eventually did on the album Rock 'n' Roll.
Cash was sued for copying lyrics and melody from "Crescent City Blues" by Gordon Jenkins. The case ended with Cash paying a settlement to Jenkins. The melody and the opening line "I hear that train a-comin'/It's rollin' round the bend" were taken from a song called "Crescent City Blues" by Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins received a $75,000 settlement after he sued.
A lawsuit alleged that "Dark Horse" copied elements of the song "Joyful Noise" by Christian rapper Flame. A jury ruled in favor of Flame, but the verdict was later overturned on appeal.
The band was accused of taking lyrics from Willie Dixon's song "You Need Love." The case was settled out of court, with Dixon receiving a songwriting credit and royalties.
The band faced claims that the opening riff was copied from Spirit's song "Taurus." A jury found Led Zeppelin not guilty of infringement after a lengthy legal battle.
The Newcomers
Osbourne was sued for allegedly inciting a teenager's suicide through the song's lyrics. The case was dismissed, with the court ruling the song was protected by the First Amendment. Similar to the Judas Priest case, a depressed teenager named John McCollum committed suicide in October 1984. His parents sued Ozzy and the label, CBS Records, claiming that "Suicide Solution" influenced his actions.
Ozzy denied that the song promoted suicide, stating that the song was partially inspired by the death of Bon Scott from AC/DC. Ultimately, the court ruled in Ozzy's favor, citing the First Amendment's protection of artistic expression.
Radiohead was sued by The Hollies for similarities to "The Air That I Breathe." The case was settled, with The Hollies' writers receiving royalties and co-writing credits. The band was sued because of the song's resemblance to "The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies. They lost, and the writers of "The Air That I Breathe" received co-writing credit.
The band was accused in a lawsuit of subliminal messaging that allegedly contributed to a suicide attempt. The court ruled in favor of Judas Priest, finding no evidence of intentional subliminal messages. Judas Priest was sued by the parents of two boys who made a suicide pact while listening to the song. They alleged the song "had subliminal backtrack messages that encouraged the kids to commit suicide."
Fogerty was sued for allegedly plagiarizing his own earlier song "Run Through the Jungle," owned by a different entity. The court sided with Fogerty, ruling that an artist cannot plagiarize themselves. This song is famous for a lawsuit where John Fogerty was sued for sounding too much like... himself. Fogerty was sued by Fantasy Records (his former label) because the song sounded too much like CCR's Run Through The Jungle. They acquired the rights to the CCR catalog as part of John Fogerty's deal to get out of his record contract.
Luckily, John proved to the court that the two songs were not identical. He successfully countersued for attorney fees.
Harrison was found to have unintentionally plagiarized The Chiffons' "He's So Fine." He was ordered to pay damages for copyright infringement. George Harrison was sued for allegedly ripping off the song "He's So Fine" by the girl group The Chiffons. The outcome was that he bought the publishing company, Bright Tunes, from Allen Klein (his former manager) for the same amount that Klein bought it for during the lawsuit. One of George's tunes, "This Song," was written about his frustration over the lawsuit.
Marvin Gaye's family filed a lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, claiming that their song Blurred Lines copied elements from Sexual Healing. The court ruled in favor of Gaye's family.
The Verve was sued for using a string sample from The Rolling Stones' "The Last Time" without proper clearance. The lawsuit resulted in The Verve surrendering all royalties and songwriting credits. The Verve obtained a license to sample an Andrew Oldham Orchestra version of The Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." However, they were sued for using more than what was agreed upon. The Rolling Stones and The Verve initially had a deal to split the royalties, but after seeing how well the recording was doing, The Rolling Stones demanded 100% of the royalties.
Coldplay was accused by Joe Satriani of copying elements from his song "If I Could Fly." The case was settled out of court, with no public details disclosed. Joe Satriani sued Coldplay, alleging their song Viva la Vida ripped off his song If I Could Fly, citing similar chords and progression. His lawsuit was dropped in 2009 after Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, claimed that both songs sounded like his Foreigner Suite.
Stewart faced allegations of copying the melody from Jorge Ben Jor's song "Taj Mahal." Stewart admitted the similarity and donated royalties to UNICEF. Rod Stewart unconsciously plagiarized the chorus from the song "Taj Mahal" by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor after hearing it while in Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval. He was sued, and Jorge Ben Jor won the case.
Sheeran was accused of copying Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." The case went to trial, where Sheeran ultimately prevailed, with the jury finding no infringement. Ed Sheeran was sued for using the same main chord progression as Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." I'm not sure how this one turned out.
Chuck Berry sued for unauthorized use of his song "Sweet Little Sixteen." The case was resolved with Berry receiving songwriting credits and royalties. Similar to the Come Together incident, they were sued by Arc Music for ripping off Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen. They gave the copyright (lyrics and all) to Arc Music.
Oasis was sued for similarities to The New Seekers' "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." The band settled by paying damages and crediting the original writers. Oasis was sued by the writers of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" (the Coca-Cola song). When asked about it afterwards, Noel Gallagher allegedly joked, "Now we all drink Pepsi."
Parker was accused by Huey Lewis of copying the melody from "I Want a New Drug." The case was settled out of court with undisclosed terms. Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. for ripping off his song "I Want a New Drug." They confidentially settled it out of court, but Ray Parker sued Huey after Huey broke the confidentiality agreement by talking about the lawsuit on VH1's Behind the Music.
Bolton was sued for infringing on The Isley Brothers' earlier song of the same name. The court ruled against Bolton, awarding substantial damages to The Isley Brothers.
