Music and legal battles collide in this eye-opening countdown of songs that landed their creators in hot water. From Coldplay to Led Zeppelin, discover the surprising copyright controversies that shook the music industry and led to courtroom showdowns.
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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 â 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