00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at songs that faced legal action due to accusations
00:11of plagiarism.
00:12I'll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy, and Faith Evans featuring 112.
00:24Let's revisit a simpler time when P. Diddy's most pressing legal issue was a plagiarism
00:30case.
00:35I'll Be Missing You dominated the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks, going on to win a Grammy.
00:41For this tribute to the late Christopher Wallace, Diddy sampled Every Breath You Take, incorporating
00:47the same melody.
00:56Diddy neglected to seek permission from the police who released their song in 1983.
01:01Songwriter Sting saw Diddy in court, walking away with 100% of the publishing royalties
01:06for I'll Be Missing You.
01:08Regardless, Diddy and Sting would perform their song side-by-side at the 1997 MTV Video Music
01:13Awards.
01:14Although people may look at Diddy's music differently now, Sting feels Every Breath
01:19You Take isn't tainted, calling it his song.
01:30Ghostbusters Ray Parker Jr.
01:33Who You Gonna Call?
01:34A lawyer, assuming you were Ray Parker Jr. in 1984.
01:45When Ghostbusters hit the silver screen that year, Huey Lewis thought the film's catchy
01:50theme song sounded similar to I Want a New Drug, which he recorded a year earlier.
01:59Parker might not be afraid of no ghost, but litigation is another story.
02:04The case was settled out of court, with Columbia Pictures agreeing to pay Lewis an undisclosed
02:08settlement.
02:11That seemed to be the end of it until Lewis talked about the lawsuit in a 2001 Behind
02:15the Music interview.
02:16Parker argued that this violated their confidentiality agreement, retaliating against Lewis with
02:22legal action.
02:23It's like Parker says in the song, Bustin' makes him feel good.
02:29Transmitting live from Mars, De La Soul.
02:33The Byrds originally recorded You Showed Me in 1964, but the Turtles turned the song into
02:38a certified hit a few years later.
02:46Since then, multiple groups have covered the song, from Salt-N-Pepa to the Lightning Seeds.
02:51We guess you can also include De La Soul, who sampled the Turtles' tune for Transmitting
02:56live from Mars in 1989.
03:05Mark Volman and Howard Kalin of the Turtles filed a $1.7 million lawsuit against the hip-hop
03:10group, alleging they borrowed bars from their song without consent.
03:14A settlement was eventually reached out of court.
03:17It's unclear how much the Turtles' band members received, but according to De La Soul, it
03:21wasn't the full $1.7 million.
03:24In any case, the Turtles showed them.
03:34Viva La Vida, Coldplay.
03:36Viva La Vida marked a milestone for Coldplay, becoming their first song to top the charts
03:41in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
03:50Taking home the Grammy for Song of the Year, Viva La Vida had just one downside — accusations
03:56of copyright infringement.
03:58Multiple artists, including Cat Stevens and the band Creaky Boards, sensed parallels between
04:03Viva La Vida and their music.
04:13Guitarist Joe Satriani is the only one who took Coldplay to court, however.
04:17According to Satriani, Viva La Vida featured substantial original portions from If I Could
04:22Fly, which was released on his album Is There Love in Space?
04:33Coldplay would deny these claims as the case was ultimately dismissed.
04:37The party supposedly reached an out-of-court settlement for an unknown sum.
04:49Got Till It's Gone, Janet Jackson featuring Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell.
04:53Best remembered for its Grammy-winning music video, Got Till It's Gone remains one of Janet
04:58Jackson's most notable musical contributions.
05:06It was also a source of controversy, as singer Desiree suggested that Jackson drew from her
05:131991 debut single, Feel So High.
05:22Deliberate or not, Desiree was compelled to sue Jackson, saying that her case was more
05:27about principle than money.
05:29That said, Desiree would receive a significant payday.
05:32An out-of-court settlement not only guaranteed the British artist two million pounds, but
05:3725% of the song's publishing royalties.
05:39Needless to say, the outcome left Desiree feeling so high.
05:43Meanwhile, Jackson didn't know what she had till it was gone.
05:46Or at least a quarter of it was gone.
05:53Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice As 90's youth rocked out to Ice Ice Baby,
05:59the 80's music crowd couldn't help but notice similarities to one of their decade-defining
06:04jams, Under Pressure.
06:12This wasn't lost on Queen or David Bowie, claiming that Vanilla Ice had sampled their
06:171981 tune without going through the proper channels.
06:27The ensuing lawsuit, which would be settled out of court, resulted in Queen and Bowie
06:32receiving songwriter credit.
06:34Vanilla Ice was also required to pay royalties, although the rapper later declared that he
06:39purchased the rights to Under Pressure, implying it was less expensive.
06:44Technically, the rights are shared between parties, according to a Queen spokesperson.
06:51Whoever holds the rights, it's safe to say that any legal pressures have chilled.
07:00Come Together, The Beatles Chuck Berry's 1956 song, You Can't Catch
07:05Me, was on John Lennon's mind while writing Come Together.
07:17Lennon even borrowed a few lyrics, tweaking them slightly.
07:20Some might call this an homage, others may say it's plagiarism.
07:30Berry's publisher, Big 7 Music, went with the latter.
07:34At Paul McCartney's suggestion, the Beatles slowed the song down to distinguish it.
07:39However, this wasn't enough to throw Big 7 Music off their scent.
07:48Rather than fight it out in court, Lennon agreed to record three of the publisher's
07:52songs.
07:53This wasn't the only time that a Beatle endured a copyright fiasco.
07:57Around the same time, George Harrison's My Sweet Lord was compared to the Ronnie Mac's
08:01scribe, He's So Fine, sparking a lawsuit.
08:11Let It Go, Idina Menzel Frozen emerged as a phenomenon in late 2013
08:18with this Oscar-winning song unleashing a musical blizzard.
08:28Just when it seemed like the storm was dying down, Let It Go re-entered the zeitgeist in
08:32November 2017 when Chilean singer Jaime Sierra cried copyright.
08:45Sierra asserted that the Disney song's hook was derivative of his tune, Volar, which debuted
08:51in 2008.
09:00Along with Disney, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez were named in Sierra's suit.
09:07So were performers Idina Menzel and Demi Lovato.
09:10Although Disney argued the statute of limitations had passed, Sierra contended that the studio
09:15was still incorporating the song into new material.
09:18Nevertheless, Sierra dropped the suit in 2019.
09:22We suppose Sierra decided it was best to just let it go.
09:29Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
09:39On more than one occasion, Led Zeppelin has gone to copyright court.
09:43A notable example was when 1969's Whole Lotta Love echoed the lyrics and melody from the
09:49Muddy Water song, You Need Love.
09:56The English band's most famous tune that triggered accusations of plagiarism would
10:00have to be 1971's Stairway to Heaven.
10:11The rock ballad's opening resembles the spirit song, Taurus, which was recorded a few years
10:16earlier.
10:24That instrumental song's writer, Randy California, died in 1997, yet his estate filed a lawsuit
10:30in 2014 demanding California be credited as a co-writer.
10:34The case was strong enough to go to trial in 2016, but the jury ruled in Led Zeppelin's
10:39favor.
10:40Despite multiple appeals, California's estate eventually ran out of legal stairways.
10:51Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams
11:11Many music plagiarism suits get dismissed or settled without going to trial.
11:21Rarely has a case played out like Pharrell Williams vs. Bridgeport Music.
11:29Robin Thicke, T.I. and Williams had a hit on their hands with Blurred Lines, although
11:33Bridgeport Music and Marvin Gaye's family allege that the song mimicked the late singer's
11:38Gotta Give It Up.
11:45Reminiscent of a certain South Park episode, the Blurred Lines team filed a declaratory
11:50relief complaint against their accusers, claiming their song didn't violate any copyright laws.
11:56This backfired as the jury would find the Blurred Lines writers liable.
12:00Initially awarded over $7 million, Gaye's family was ultimately granted $5.3 million
12:06along with a cut of future royalties and a songwriter credit.
12:14Which music legal cases stand out to you?
12:17Let us know in the comments.
12:44For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org
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