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When artists borrow a little too much from their inspirations, legal battles follow! Join us as we count down the most notorious musical copyright infringements that landed major artists in court. From sampling without permission to subconscious plagiarism, these hit songs came with hefty price tags and damaged reputations.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for 20 songs that prompted
00:11serious legal action over potential copyright infringement.
00:21Number 20. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash bared his soul for the world to
00:28see on many of his greatest hits, but that doesn't mean he didn't get a little help along the way at
00:33times. On his legendary single Folsom Prison Blues, Cash took heavy influence from a then-recent
00:46album by Gordon Jenkins, especially the track Crescent City Blues. It's an
00:58unmistakable lift that should have been credited. In the early 70s, Jenkins made the decision to sue
01:04Cash for a slice of the pie. He ended up paying Jenkins a sum of $75,000, while also inserting
01:11his songwriter credit on all subsequent releases.
01:14And I'd let that lonesome whistle, roll my blues all the way.
01:20Number 19. Pretty Woman, 2 Live Crew.
01:23An interesting question was raised when 2 Live Crew released a song called Pretty Woman
01:29in 1989. Can a parody of a song be considered plagiarism?
01:40Well, 2 Live Crew supposedly contacted Roy Orbison's record label to ask for permission
01:46to parody his legendary hit, Oh, Pretty Woman.
01:49Pretty woman, walking down the street. Pretty woman, the kind I like to be.
01:57The label rejected them, but the group took the rebellious path and recorded their parody anyway.
02:03Big hairy woman, you need to save that stuff.
02:06The lawsuit that followed led to some interesting outcomes, namely that parody should be considered
02:12fair use. And we're inclined to agree. Could you imagine if someone like Weird Al Yankovic
02:17had to answer for all of his parodies? That's not a world we want to live in.
02:27Number 18. Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr.
02:31The story of Ray Parker Jr. and the Ghostbusters theme song is a messy tale.
02:36After being tasked with writing a tune for the film with barely any time to work, Parker managed
02:49to produce the goods in a big way. The problem? Well, as much as the tune was insanely catchy
02:54and the perfect fit, it also borrowed heavily from another famous song. Huey Lewis and the
03:00News had recently released I Want a New Drug, which is clearly the inspiration for Parker's song.
03:05Eventually, the case resulted in Lewis receiving an undisclosed payout while agreeing to a
03:16confidentiality agreement. Unfortunately for him, after he spoke about the suit on VH1's Behind
03:22the Music, Lewis had to pay Parker $30,000.
03:30Number 17. Do You Think I'm Sexy? Rod Stewart.
03:33This one is far too blatant to defend. Rod Stewart managed to strike gold on the charts once again
03:40with his insanely catchy disco pivot, Do You Think I'm Sexy?
03:48But when it emerged that he had totally ripped off Brazilian legend, Georgie Ben-Jor, he didn't
03:54even try to fight it. As it turned out, Stewart had visited Rio around the time he wrote his song
03:59and subconsciously plagiarized Ben's Taj Mahal. When Ben filed a lawsuit against Stewart,
04:05there was very little conflict. The case was settled amicably out of court and in favor of Ben.
04:11To this day, it remains one of the most clear-cut cases of plagiarism in music history.
04:22If you're really mean, just reach out and touch me. Come on, honey, tell me so.
04:29Number 16. Bittersweet Symphony. The Verve. Imagine writing one of the most beloved songs
04:35of the 1990s, your band's biggest hit ever, and not receiving royalties.
04:40Well, the improper sampling of the orchestral version of the Rolling Stones' The Last Time
04:53left Britpop icons The Verve with a real mess on their hands.
04:57They were given clearance to sample a small portion of the track for Bittersweet Symphony,
05:10but ended up exceeding it. Not only did the courts side with the Stones, but full songwriting credit
05:16went to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, entitling them to all royalties the tune earned. However,
05:22in 2019, in a show of good faith that was very warmly received,
05:26Jagger and Richards gave the rights back to Richard Ashcroft and The Verve.
05:37Number 15. Shallow. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
05:41Does a star like Lady Gaga need to go digging through obscure SoundCloud artists for song ideas?
05:47Tell me something, boy. Aren't you tired trying to fill that void?
05:56Well, when her hit song Shallow was released as part of the 2018 movie A Star Is Born,
06:01she got an unexpected accusation and a threat that it would cost her millions.
06:05All of the day but watchin' the light die there.
06:13Steve Ronson claimed that Gaga had stolen key elements from his song Almost,
06:18and that he had consulted musicologists to prove it.
06:21In the lives of Spain.
06:26Whatever happened behind the scenes in this undisclosed saga did not work in his favor.
06:32He was described as someone who was looking to make money off other artists' successes.
06:37In reality, the songs were simply using similar musical ideas to arrive at different points.
06:42A coincidence, nothing more.
06:49Number 14. Creep. Radiohead.
06:53When Radiohead released Creep and it became a huge hit, it changed everything for them.
06:58When you were before
07:03Couldn't look you in the eye
07:05So much so, that they got so sick and tired of playing it.
07:09However, Tom York and company were forced to think about Creep a whole lot more
07:13when they were dragged into a lawsuit by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood.
07:17If I could make a wish
07:23The song was accused of being highly derivative of the Holly's The Air That I Breathe,
07:28with the courts ruling that Radiohead had indeed borrowed a little too much.
07:32Hammond and Hazelwood are now listed as co-writers on the track
07:36and are entitled to half of all of the royalties the song earns.
07:39I don't belong here.
07:45Number 13. Rodeo. Lil Nas X and Cardi B.
07:49Lil Nas X and Cardi B's Rodeo earned the two of them a boatload of money when it first dropped in 2019.
07:57But there was a problem.
08:05The Atlanta-based duo, Puerto Rifa and Secrete Deuce,
08:09claimed that their song Broad Day was being ripped off by Rodeo.
08:13According to them, their track had been circulating around the Atlanta hip-hop scene
08:21before Lil Nas X released his composition.
08:24In their eyes, the chord progression and instrumental feel had been ripped right off of their song.
08:30However, the courts did not agree with their claims and eventually the case was dismissed.
08:34I can take it all back. I never care about what you thought.
08:38Number 12. Uptown Funk. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.
08:42Uptown Funk was one of the highest selling songs of the 2010s
08:46and a major career peak for Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson.
08:55However, there's no denying the similarities between the hook
08:58and the Gap Band's classic funk song, Oops, Upside Your Head.
09:02Everything we do is under Mars.
09:03Upside.
09:04Three.
09:05Three.
09:05Three.
09:06The slimy tone under the breeze.
09:07Were Mars and Ronson merely paying tribute to the past with their song?
09:11Well, no matter what the intention was, the Gap Band successfully filed a copyright claim.
09:16And you don't need to be a musicologist to hear the similarities.
09:20Mars and Ronson were forced to add new songwriting credits to the track,
09:24and the Gap Band now receives 17% of royalties generated by the song.
09:29Well, it's Saturday night and we in the spot.
09:31Don't believe it, just watch.
09:33Number 11.
09:34Stairway to Heaven.
09:36Led Zeppelin.
09:37Led Zeppelin have had quite a few plagiarism controversies in their day.
09:41This lady's shoe, all the clitters is gone.
09:48While songs like Dazed and Confused and Whole Lotta Love are among the most famous offenders,
09:54were looking at the most famous lift of all, Stairway to Heaven.
10:04Spirit had actually played on several of the same lineups as Zeppelin in the late 60s.
10:09Jimmy Page was even a fan of the band.
10:12So when their track Taurus was released,
10:14many people believed that the guitarist's love for borrowing musical ideas led to him ripping them off.
10:24Stairway to Heaven's intro is damn near identical to Taurus.
10:31And though the courts ruled in Zeppelin's favor in 2016,
10:35we can't say it was a convincing verdict.
10:41Number 10.
10:42Dark Horse.
10:43Katy Perry.
10:44Katy Perry with her hit single Dark Horse was accused by Christian rapper Flame
10:48of using the same beats and instrumentals featured on his 2008 song, Joyful Noise.
10:58Though the rapper initially won the suit and was awarded $2.8 million for copyright infringement,
11:04the ruling was reversed in 2020.
11:07In the original ruling, Perry was accused of copying an eight-note ostinato,
11:12which is a continually-repeated musical rhythm or lyric.
11:22A judge in 2020 found that the sequence was not all original or rare,
11:27and thus gave the case to Perry.
11:29It's a little difficult to hear the similarity between the two tunes,
11:32but that might just be to the untrained ear.
11:34Cause what's your mind, what's your mind?
11:37There's no going back.
11:40Number 9.
11:41Shaker Maker.
11:42Oasis.
11:43Oasis didn't always just fight amongst themselves as a band.
11:46They also had some legal issues to sort out.
11:48The 1994 single, Shaker Maker, may sound familiar.
12:01Oasis was sued by 1970's band, The New Seekers,
12:04the band responsible for I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.
12:08Made popular by Coca-Cola commercials.
12:16The Seekers won and were awarded half a million dollars for unlawful use of their song.
12:21Originally, Shaker Maker was supposed to open with the exact same lyric as the new Seekers song,
12:26but Oasis had to change it due to copyright.
12:28But they wouldn't notice the melody, right?
12:30Well, they did.
12:31When asked about his thoughts on the case, Noel Gallagher said,
12:34quote,
12:35Now we all drink Pepsi.
12:37Number 8.
12:38Carry On.
12:39Lil Nas X.
12:40Lil Nas X grew to extreme popularity in the 2010s.
12:44Unfortunately, with great popularity comes great lawsuits.
12:48His 2018 hit single Carry On borrowed a little too much from Bobby Caldwell's 1982 song of the same
12:54title.
12:55And Nas was slapped with a $25 million lawsuit.
13:05Basically, and this can easily be heard when comparing both tunes,
13:09he borrowed from the 1982 song Without Permission.
13:12Carry On.
13:15Don't be hard to understand it.
13:20The claim is divided into two suits, Nas for unlawful use and Sony Music for punitive damages,
13:26citing the label as not properly verifying its artists' songs in the pursuit of fortune.
13:31The results of the case have not yet been publicized, but we can't assume it'll end in Nas's favor.
13:41Number 7.
13:42We Can't Stop.
13:43Miley Cyrus.
13:45Sometimes the plaintiffs get a little greedy.
13:52Miley Cyrus' 2013 single, We Can't Stop, sounded familiar to Jamaican songwriter,
13:58Flower Gone.
13:59He claimed Cyrus' song bears a resemblance to his 1988 song, We Run Things, in general,
14:05as well as borrows from his lyrics.
14:06We run things, please don't run me, don't take nothing from nobody, yeah, yeah.
14:14So Flower Gone sued for a massive amount of $300 million.
14:18The suit was settled in early 2020.
14:20However, the details have not been released to the public.
14:23The main lyric borrowed was, We run things, things no run we,
14:27which Cyrus sang as, We run things, things don't run we.
14:31It's a fairly specific phrase.
14:39Other details are scarce, but it's nice to see the little guy come out triumphant sometimes.
14:44Number 6.
14:45My Sweet Lord, George Harrison.
14:48There can't be any doubt in anyone's mind that one of the biggest bands in musical history and its
14:53members were sued on more than one occasion.
14:55Early in George Harrison's solo career, he was sued by Bright Tunes Music Corporation,
15:00concerning his song, My Sweet Lord.
15:07The song musically resembles the chiffon's 1963 hit, He's So Fine,
15:12and this can be heard by the untrained ear.
15:21Harrison claimed to have drawn inspiration from Oh Happy Day,
15:24as had He's So Fine, and that the former Beatle was aware of the chiffon's tune.
15:29Therefore, it was deemed that Harrison subconsciously borrowed from He's So Fine,
15:34yet this doesn't absolve one from copyright infringement.
15:37He was ordered to pay the label $1.6 million in 1976.
15:42Number 5.
15:43My Humps, Black Eyed Peas.
15:50This one is really down to record label politics.
15:53DJ Lynn Tolliver recorded his song, I Need a Freak, in 1983,
15:57and had the song registered with BMI as its songwriter.
16:01The song was subsequently lent out for use, despite Tolliver's legal efforts to put a stop to it.
16:05I need a fringe with long, long hair.
16:09The producer responsible for lending the track ignored Tolliver, and continued.
16:13Thus, it was sampled by the Black Eyed Peas.
16:23The court case was riddled with the producer's multiple versions of the story,
16:26but ultimately, Tolliver was awarded $1.2 million.
16:29This is one of those cases where the band was really not at fault.
16:34Number 4.
16:35Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran
16:40Ed Sheeran is no stranger to lawsuits.
16:42In the same year, he had two major suits going on.
16:45The first being his song, Photograph, accused of blatantly stealing,
16:49at some points note for note, from Matt Cardell's song, Amazing.
16:53The second was for a song from the same album, Thinking Out Loud.
16:56Maybe we found love right where we are.
17:03Sheeran was slapped with a multi-million dollar lawsuit in 2018
17:06for allegedly borrowing a little too heavily from Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On,
17:11notably in the drum and bass rhythm arrangements.
17:13Fans, nothing wrong with me, loving you.
17:20In March of 2021, Sheeran attempted to have the case dismissed,
17:24but his bid was rejected by a US district judge,
17:27who stated that Sheeran must face the charges against him.
17:30And we found love right where we are.
17:38Number 3.
17:39Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
17:44The results of this one might irk a few fans of the legendary band, Queen.
17:48Back in 1990, Vanilla Ice had teens stopping, collaborating, and listening to his hit single,
17:54Ice Ice Baby.
17:55However, anyone with any knowledge of classic rock recognized that bass line right away.
18:00It was ripped directly from Queen and David Bowie's collaborative 1981 song, Under Pressure.
18:11Ice soon found himself being sued by both Queen and Bowie.
18:14Ice claimed that he avoided the suit by purchasing the rights to Under Pressure.
18:18So they didn't have the actual rights to it.
18:20So I went to Brian May, and I actually bought the song.
18:22And the guitar player for Queen.
18:24Yeah, but I actually own the song.
18:25So I bought it like Michael Jackson owns the Beatles.
18:27It was cheaper than the lawsuit.
18:29However, a Queen's spokesperson says that Ice's statement isn't entirely accurate,
18:33stating, quote,
18:34An arrangement was made whereby the publishing in the song was shared.
18:38Number 2.
18:39Love is a Wonderful Thing, Michael Bolton
18:42In the early 90s, Michael Bolton found himself in hot water,
18:45following the release of the hit single Love is a Wonderful Thing.
18:53It turned out that the Isley Brothers, best known for It's Your Thing and Shout,
18:58had released a 45 RPM single of the same title back in 1964.
19:02Though Bolton and his manager claimed to have never heard the original song,
19:06that's a little hard to believe when you compare the two singles.
19:09Love is a wonderful thing. Love is a wonderful thing.
19:13The Isley Brothers won their case and were awarded $5 million,
19:17which at the time was the highest payout for musical copyright infringement ever awarded.
19:22At least we can all agree that love is, in fact, a wonderful thing.
19:25Love is a wonderful thing.
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19:48Number 1.
19:49Blurred Lines
19:50Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams
20:00Remember 2013, when all you heard all year was this song?
20:04Well, Marvin Gaye's family heard it too, and they were not too pleased.
20:08In 2013, Gaye's family filed a lawsuit, claiming that the hit single copied from Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up.
20:14To the untrained ear, the opening of both songs is strikingly similar, as is the rhythm.
20:25Gaye's family was triumphant and were awarded approximately $5 million,
20:29as well as half of all future royalties' blurred lines accrues.
20:33I'm so filled with emotion right now that it's hard to get the words out, but this was a miracle.
20:41One thing we can say from this and some of the other lawsuits featured in this list,
20:45do not mess with Marvin Gaye's music.
20:47Legal analysts say this verdict sends a loud message to the music industry.
20:52I think this is going to lead any musician who's been inspired by another song
20:57to think twice, because this is a big legal ruling.
21:01Did we miss out on any other famous music lawsuits? Let us know in the comments.
21:11Let us know in the comments.
21:21Wait Awe.
21:23This is odd!
21:23Use newspapers and gasp for us.
21:25This is odd.
21:26This is odd!
21:27Let us know in the comments, not always.
21:29Here is our tomorrow
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