Writers/Bands that were sued for plagiarism.

Also, the first line from "Run For Your Life" ("I'd rather see you, dead, little girl, than to be with another man") was lifted from "Baby Let's Play House", and Elvis Presley Sun recording. I don't remember if there were any lawsuit threats on that one.

 

I don't believe there were any threats of a lawsuit and I know there wasn't a lawsuit.

 

Gordon Lightfoot sued the writers of "The Greatest Love of All" for the similarity between the song's bridge ("I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow") to his "If You Could Read My Mind" ("You won't read that book again because the ending's just too hard to take").

 

Oh sure, we sampled the recording but we added one extra note from that sample so that makes it totally different. Vanilla Ice is simply not very bright.

 

When the "writers" behind Milli Vanilli stole every note of "All Or Nothing" from Blood, Sweat and Tears' "Spinning Wheel" (written by David Clayton-Thomas), Thomas sued them for 120 million. I don't know if he got that much, but of course he won the lawsuit. Did those "writers'' actually think they could get away with stealing every single note from a well-known hit song?

 

I think he was told to say that by somebody or other. I am sure he didn't actually believe that himself. He later said that he was basically used by his record label and that he didn't really know what he was doing at the time.

 

Before the court case, the band, as well as majority of people, assumed Kookaburra was in the public domain (Happy Birthday to You would be a good comparison). The lawsuit actually garnered quite a lot of criticism from the public, and even Larrikin's former owner was critical of it. Just a minor correction: the band didn't lose 100% of the royalties - they actually lost 5% backdated to 2002, though Larrikin Music originally wanted 40-60% of the royalties backdating to 1981.

 

Bob Dylan wrote the words to "Masters of War" to the tune of the traditional folk ballad "Nottamun Town", assuming the song was in the public domain. Jean Ritchie's father had collected the song from an old Kentucky ballad singer. He may not have been the first to collect it but he was the first to register a copyright on it with the Library of Congress. After Dylan recorded "Masters of War", Jean Ritchie sued him for the royalties. The copyright law and the folk process are strange bedfellows.

 

Stones weren't actually sued. They gave a writer credit to kd.

 

This one is my personal favorite!

 

The Bee Gees were sued in 1983 for How Deep Is Your Love by a clothing salesman for being similar to a song he wrote in the 70s:

Selle v. Gibb - Wikipedia

Initially, the jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff, with the jury saying “If we made a mistake, they can afford it.” It was subsequently overturned, with the judge saying "the verdict in favor of the plaintiff was against the manifest weight of the evidence and its return by the jury represents a miscarriage of justice."

 

Stevie Nicks was sued in 1980 by Carol Hinton, who claimed the lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's Sara were stolen from a poem she had written called Sarah, which she'd submitted to Warner Bros. Records in the hopes that someone could turn the poem into lyrics for a song. There were some similarities, but Stevie Nicks was able to prove it was a coincidence and that Sara was written first and therefore hadn't plagiarised Carol Hinton's lyrics:
So, what about that fun plagiarism suit then?
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Stevie Nicks' "Sara"
Woman drops suit against Fleetwood Mac – Stevie Nicks
Rolling Stone
Here's a relevant quote that describes the lawsuit (taken from the Rolling Stone article):
...but then she learned that a woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan was suing her for the rights to Stevie's favorite composition, "Sara." The woman claimed she had written it and sent a copy of the lyrics to Warner Bros. in November 1978.
The suit raged for months, despite Stevie's numerous witnesses (including Kenny Loggins) and a demo cut at producer Gordon Perry's Dallas studio in July 1978. It was only a few months ago that the woman's lawyers finally gave up, stating, says Stevie, "We believe you."
"There were some great similarities in the lyrics," Stevie asserts, "and I never said she didn't write the words she wrote. Just don't tell me I didn't write the words I wrote. Most people think that the other party will settle out of court, but she picked the wrong songwriter. To call me a thief about my first love, my songs, that's going too far."

 

Iron Maiden settled with one writer regarding "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and then years later his writing partner came out and demanded his share. IMO it was more an issue with the original writer who co-wrote the song not including his buddy in the first lawsuit. Maiden settled the case once they shouldn't have to do it again.

 

Fantasy Records tried to sue John Fogerty for "The Old Man Down the Road", sounding too much like his own "Run Through the Jungle" he wrote while in CCR. Fogerty brought his guitar to the stand to demonstrate that the two songs were different, the judge ruled in his favor. Fogerty then counter sued for his legal costs, this went all the way to the supreme court where he won again.

 

This reminds me of an inverted example, when David Geffen sued Neil Young for not ripping off Neil Young.

 

Morris Levy initially sued Northern Songs, Maclen Music, and Apple Records. Before trial, Lennon stepped up and worked out a settlement with Levy which stipulated that he would record three Levy-published songs on his next album, in exchange for the lawsuit being dropped. With that settlement finalized, McCartney and the various Beatles companies and publishing entities were off the hook, and all subsequent legal wrangling was directly between Lennon and Levy.

 

Stolen from what? Curious.

Agree with you on "Come Together", just plain stupid/greedy.

 

Music plagiarism - Wikipedia

Scroll down to "Cases"

 

Rolf Harris told Adam Ant don't you ever and made Prince Charming stand and deliver.

 

When the theme song of Ghostbusters was released, Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and Ray Parker Jr. for plagiarism, stating that Parker's song was too similar to Lewis' "I Want a New Drug". Lewis had been approached to compose the main theme song for the film.[4][5] The three parties settled out of court. Details of the settlement (specifically, that Columbia Pictures paid Lewis a settlement) remained confidential until 2001, when Lewis commented on the payment in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music. Parker subsequently sued Lewis for breaching confidentiality.[6]

 

"The Girl Is Mine" has been the subject of two plagiarism lawsuits. Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit found in the favour of the singer and his record label. The first legal trial occurred in 1984, with Fred Sanford claiming that Jackson had cut a tape of his song, "Please Love Me Now". Jackson, however, insisted that he composed "The Girl Is Mine". The $5 million copyright suit was closed after the jury of five men and a woman reached a verdict in the favour of Jackson. Their verdict was reached after a three-day deliberation. Jackson was not a defendant in the trial but testified to maintain his credibility.[3][19] James Klenk, Jackson's attorney, praised the singer upon the jury's verdict. "The man is a genius. He doesn't need anyone else's songs. His own words were the key."[3] During the court proceedings, Jackson revealed how he composes his songs. "I put them in a tape recorder and I orally sing them into the tape, and that's how it happens."[3] One juror stated, "His presentation indicated that he was well able to develop his own songs."[3][19]

The song's second plagiarism trial was in 1993. Reynaud Jones and Robert Smith alleged that "The Girl Is Mine", along with "Thriller"—written by Rod Temperton—and "We Are the World", resembled their musical works. The pair added that they had been childhood neighbours of the Jackson family when they had resided in Gary, Indiana. Jackson, Lionel Richie—co-writer of "We Are the World"—and Quincy Jones were named as the defendants. The plaintiffs asserted that Joseph Jackson had received a demo tape from them. From the tapes, the defendants were alleged to have stolen the three hit songs. Reynaud Jones also claimed that he had considered suing Jackson over "Billie Jean". Jackson appeared in court via a taped testimony.[20][21]Following the testimony, the nine-member jury found Jackson to be the writer and composer of "The Girl Is Mine" in early 1994. They also ruled that the defendants had not plagiarized "Thriller" or "We Are the World".[20]

 

Funnily, just today I had an enjoyable bus trip listening to George Harrison’s “All things must pass” on headphones. His “My sweet Lord” was famously held to have plagiarised the Chiffons’ “He’s so fine”. There’s a good write up on this link to Rolling Stone magazine, which is part of a series on plagiarised songs.... Enjoy.....

Songs on Trial: 12 Landmark Music Copyright Cases

 

What is so ironic to the My Sweet Lord- He's So Fine case is that George Harrison ends up owning the rights to He's so Fine, due to Allen Klein's backdoor shenanigans and greed.

 

I believe it's still to get to court.
It's 'Hallowed Be Thy Claim' For Iron Maiden As High Court Case Is Now In Motion