"Stairway to Heaven" trial is latest in such litigation
A federal copyright infringement lawsuit accuses Led Zeppelin of stealing the intro of its hit, "Stairway to Heaven," from the founder of the band Spirit. A Los Angeles jury heard closing statements in the case Wednesday.
Here is a look at some other cases that have taken pop songs from the recording studio to the courtroom over plagiarism allegations.
VMG SALSOUL VS. MADONNA
Delaware company VMG Salsoul owned the copyright to the song, "Ooh I Love It (Love Break)," and accused Madonna of stealing the horn segment for "Vogue." In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the lawsuit. The divided court said the horn segment would be unrecognizable to the average listener of "Vogue" because it is short, occurs only a few times in the song and was modified.
OSAMA AHMED FAHMY VS. JAY-Z
An Egyptian composer whose 1957 song "Khosara Khosara" is partially used in Jay Z's "Big Pimpin'" sued the rapper, producer Timbaland and several media companies. Flute notes that the composer used are repeated throughout the Jay Z song, and nephew Osama Ahmed Fahmy claimed they exploited "Khosara Khosara" without proper permission. A federal judge dismissed the case after hearing testimony from experts on Egyptian law.
CHILDREN OF MARVIN GAYE VS. ROBIN THICKE AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS
A jury found singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied R&B legend Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up" with their 2013 megahit "Blurred Lines." Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay Gaye's children nearly $7.4 million. A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal.
GEORGE HARRISON VS. THE CHIFFONS
Former Beatle George Harrison's 1970 solo song "My Sweet Lord" had a melody heavy with echoes of "He's So Fine," the 1962 hit from The Chiffons. The copyright owner sued Harrison. A judge said that while the tunes were nearly identical, Harrison only committed "subconscious plagiarism." Harrison would eventually pay $587,000.
HUEY LEWIS VS. THE GHOSTBUSTERS
Ray Parker Jr. ain't afraid of no ghost, but he had to give in when Huey Lewis and the News came after him. Parker's "Ghostbusters," from the movie of the same title, was among the top 10 songs of 1984. But Lewis sued him over the song's resemblance to "I Want a New Drug," a song released earlier the same year. Parker settled out of court for a confidential sum.
VANILLA ICE VS. QUEEN
Vanilla Ice's 1990 signature tune, "Ice, Ice, Baby," used a sample of the 1981 Queen-David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure" without credit. Vanilla Ice would settle out of court for an undisclosed amount in one of many cases that stemmed from hip-hop's heavy use of sampling at the time.
FOGERTY VS. FOGERTY
In a case as bizarre as it was far-reaching, John Fogerty was accused of stealing from John Fogerty. The Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman was sued for his 1985 solo song "The Old Man Down the Road" because his former label thought it sounded too much like the 1970 Fogerty-penned "Run Through the Jungle," a song the label owned the rights to. A jury ruled in Fogerty's favor, but a countersuit over attorneys' fees would reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The fight would lead to an ongoing rift among bandmates who took opposing sides. Fogerty was still estranged from his brother and fellow CCR member Tom Fogerty over the issue when Tom died in 1990.
TOM PETTY VS. SAM SMITH
Not all plagiarism cases are so nasty. Tom Petty won a piece of British soulster Sam Smith's hit "Stay With Me" earlier this year, and all he had to do was ask. Petty's publishers said that while it was clearly coincidental, the song's melody bore a striking resemblance to Petty's 1989 song "I Won't Back Down." Smith and his representatives agreed, and granted co-writing credit to Petty. The song would win Grammys for record of the year and song of the year the following month.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More