A sketch of Taylor Swift and her attorneys in Denver Federal Court.
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This was a bittersweet lawsuit to say the least! An ex-manager from the Rolling Stones sued The Verve for royalties after hearing their 1997 hit “Bittersweet Symphony.” The band was licensed to take five-notes from recording producer Andrew Loog Oldham, but after the Rolling Stones heard the full song they sued them for everything, claiming they broke their contract.
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Looks like she might not be able to shake this one off. R&B artist Jesse Graham (l.) has filed a $42 million lawsuit this week against Taylor Swift citing her hit song “Shake It Off” rips off a song he wrote in 2013 called “Haters gone hate.” Graham has reached out to her record companies many times for a plea deal but after they refused to even grant him a selfie with Swift, looks like he’s taking her to court!
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In 1981 Queen and David Bowie recorded the hit “Under Pressure,” but in 1990 when Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” hit song took off, so did the lawsuit! Vanilla Ice claimed his intro melody was a beat different from the 1981 hit, but quickly learned not to mess with legends like David Bowie and Queen — he eventually paid Queen and gave Bowie and Freddie Mercury writers credit.
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Swift was animated throughout her testimony and spoke with certainty about what transpired during her “horrifying” encounter with Mueller in 2013.
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Within 5 seconds of listening to The Strokes 2001 hit “Last Night,” you can hear the resemblance to Tom Petty’s 1967 hit “American Girl.” It was later revealed that the Stokes admitted to stealing the opening of Petty’s famous song, and fortunately for the band — Tom wasn’t interested in a lawsuit!
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It’s safe to say that The Rubinoos 1979 hit “I Want To Be Your Boyfriend” and Avril Lavigne’s 2007 song “Girlfriend” are almost identical. It comes as no surprise the Canadian singer was sued by two of the songwriters from the ’70s band which they settled confidentially in 2008.
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Sam Smith doesn’t want any drama! After Tom Petty’s team heard the parallels from Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” to Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” the 22-year-old English singer was quick to respond by saying it was a “complete coincidence.” To appease everyone, Smith co-credited Petty and co-writer Jeff Lynne and came to an amicable agreement.
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“It’s a humiliating experience to be accused of something that despicable,” Mueller told the court.
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Madonna paved the way for many artists, including Lady Gaga who has been vocal about how the Queen of Pop inspired her. Perhaps Lady Gaga took her admiration a little too far with her 2011 hit “Born This Way,” which sounds undeniably similar to Madonna’s 1989 hit “Express Yourself.” Although Madonna did not take legal action, when asked about the song — the 56-year-old singer said, “It feels … reductive.”
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Oasis just can’t keep their hit songs outside of the courtroom! After their 2000 hit “Step Out” debuted, his people (including Stevie Wonder) realized how much it sounded like Stevie’s 1966 “Uptight” melody. Stevie Wonder eventually sued the band and was granted co-writing credit on the label.
