User:HelenWatt/Plagiarism
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Breach of Copyright Cases
[edit] The Chiffons versus George Harrison
The Chiffons, a 1960s 'girl group', had a huge hit in 1963 with a song called "He's So Fine", written by Ronald Mack. The copyright in the song was assigned to Bright Tunes Music Corp. Seven years later, in 1970, former Beatle George Harrison released "My Sweet Lord" on his album, All Things Must Pass. Bright Tunes noticed the similarity between "He's So Fine" and "My Sweet Lord" and sued Harrison in 1971.
The court concluded that George Harrison had infringed the copyright of "He's So Fine". The court stated:
"His subconscious knew it already had worked in a song his conscious did not remember. That is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished" - Bright Tunes Music Corp v Harrison Music Ltd (1976) 420 F Supp 177, Federal District Court, New York.
Harrison was found guilty of infringing the copyright of the music of "He's So Fine". He was ordered to pay Bright Tunes over US$1.5 million.
[edit] Fatback versus Dr. Dre
Hip-hop producer and artist Dr. Dre (real name André Romell Young) is no stranger to copyright issues and sampling without gaining permission. His 1999 album Dr Dre 2001 is rumored to have spawned as many as ten separate legal claims, many of those settled out of court. One such example that did go to court, was brought by 1980s band Fatback, whose publisher, Minder Music, claimed that Dr. Dre's "Let's Get High" had sampled the bass line from their 1980 hit "Backstrokin'".
Much like George Harrison, Dr. Dre was found guilty of an infringement in 2003. Dr. Dre had sampled the sound recording and used a recognizable portion of the music as well. A total of US$1.5 million was awarded to Minder Music.
Another case included the unauthorized sampling of the George Lucas THX audio logo known as "Deep Note", in the album's intro.
[edit] Cat Stevens versus The Flaming Lips
In 2002, The Flaming Lips released their album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The following year, the band released a single from the album called "Fight Test". The track was picked up by radio station BBC2. Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, noted that "Fight Test" bore remarkable similarity to his 1970 hit "Father and Son". A case was brought against EMI Music Publishing (the Flaming Lips' publisher) by Sony ATV Music Publishing (Yusuf Islam's publisher).
The Flaming Lips singer, Wayne Coyne, told Rolling Stone:
"I know "father and Son" and I knew there would be a little bit of comparison. "Fight Test" is not a reference necessarily to the ideas of "Father and Son", but definitely a reference to the cadence, the melody and stuff like that. I think it's such a great arrangement of chords and melody" - "Fight Club", Rolling Stone, 21 August 2003.
The above statement made by Coyne contradicts the alleged claim made in the associated Wikipedia article that "he didn't know of the similarities". The fact that lyrics to both songs covered a similar idea didn't help his case much, either.
The Flaming Lips were forced to turn over some of their publishing royalties to Yusuf Islam, according to a settlement the two parties agreed upon.
[edit] The Rolling Stones versus The Verve
This case is one of the most talked about copyright cases of recent years. The Verve released their album Urban Hymns in 1997, shortly after Richard Ashcroft and The Verve were sued for copyright infringement by the Stones former manager, Allen Klein. Klein's publishing business, ABKCO Music, was the owner of almost all of the Stones' 1960s catalogue, thanks to an assignment of rights agreed to at the time by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Klein claimed that the Verve's song "Bittersweet Symphony" contained samples of a 1966 orchestral instrumental version of a song that Jagger and Richards had written called "The Last Time", which was orchestrated by producer Andrew Loog Oldham.
Fortunately for the Verve, "Bittersweet Symphony" was a hit and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Unfortunately for them, however, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were named as songwriters and ABKCO Music (and hence Allen Klein) was given full publishing rights to the song.
Under the law, Allen Klein ended up with 100 per cent of the royalties and, capitalizing on the success of the song, licensed "Bittersweet Symphony" to Nike, who proceeded to run a multi-million dollar television campaign using the song synchronized to shots of its sneakers. Again, the associated Wikipedia article is incorrect by implying that that song was used without permission from The Verve, when in fact they didn't own the rights to it! You cannot order a company to cease using a licensed song when you're not the copyright owner.
[edit] Huey Lewis and Ray Parker Jnr.
In 1983, Huey Lewis scored a worldwide hit with his song "I Want a New Drug". A year later, Huey was surprised to hear how much Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" song sounded like his earlier hit. huey claimed that his guitar-driven riff had been simply replaced by Ray Parker Jr.'s keyboard sound.
Lewis and Parker Jr. settled out of court in 1995.
[edit] David Bowie & Queen versus Vanilla Ice
Vanilla Ice (real name Robert Van Winkle) sampled the unmistakable main riff from David Bowie and Queen's 1982 song "Under Pressure" for his only hit "Ice Ice Baby". The song appeared on Vanilla Ice's 1990 album Hooked. Van Winkle did not bother to obtain a license for the riff's use, or even credit the song to its composers Queen and David Bowie. Vanilla Ice tried to avoid legal action by claiming that the riffs were not the same due to his addition of one note in the bassline.
Following threats of legal action by Queen and David Bowie, he opted to settle out of court for an undisclosed sum. Later record company executive Suge Knight claimed he was owed credit to the lyrics of "Ice Ice Baby" which he never received.
[edit] Harlene Stein versus Eminem
Eminem (real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III) had sampled a song "Pigs Go Home" from the movie soundtrack Getting Straight. Harlene Stein sued Eminem claiming his song "Guilty Conscience" was sampled without permission from her late husband's (Ronald Stein) estate.
The associated Wikipedia article makes no mention of this case.
[edit] Eminem versus The Source
Eminem in 2005, inexplicably withdrew a court case of copyright infringement against The Source hip-hop magazine after they allegedly reprinted the lyrics to one of his songs in which he called black girls "dumb".
[edit] Guy Bourdin versus Madonna
In 2003, Madonna was sued by the son of late French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin for copyright infringement after he alleged that Madonna had used his fathers ideas and images for her music video "Hollywood". The video's director, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, and Madonna's record company, Warner Bros., also were named in the lawsuit. The images relate to photographs published in Vogue magazine in the 1950s and 1960s.
"It's one thing to draw inspiration; it's quite another to simply plagiarize the heart and soul of my father's work," - Samuel Bourdin on Madonna.
Madonna eventually settled out of court in 2004 and had to pay substantial undisclosed damages to Samuel Bourdin.
The associated Wikipedia article makes no mention of this lawsuit.
[edit] Salvatore Acquaviva versus Madonna
In 2007, Madonna was sued by Belgian singer-songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva who claimed in court that the melody from Madonna's 1998 song "Frozen" was lifted from his hit "Ma Vie Fout L'camp (My Life's Getting Nowhere)" single.
A judge ruled that Madonna had indeed plagiarized the opening bars of the song and ordered all existing copies of Madonna's single be destroyed and that radio stations be banned from playing it. A financial settlement is yet to be reached.
[edit] Clare Torry versus Pink Floyd
In 2004, Clare Torry sued EMI Publishing and Pink Floyd for songwriting royalties, on the basis that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" constituted co-authorship with keyboardist Richard Wright. Originally, she was paid the standard flat fee of £30 for Sunday studio work. In 2005, a settlement was reached in the High Court in Torry's favor, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed. It is believed that future editions of the album will feature Torry's name in the credits, next to Wright's, for composing "The Great Gig in the Sky".
[edit] Verdict Not Known
[edit] Mary J. Blige, Eve & Dr. Dre versus Madonna
In 2005, Mary J. Blige, Eve (real name Eve Jihan Jeffers), and Dr. Dre were being sued by the publishers and songwriters (Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens) of Madonna's song "Holiday" for US$15 million. The publishing company which owns "Holiday" has claimed that all three defendants had plagiarized the single for their song "Not Today", from the BarberShop 2: Back in Business soundtrack.
[edit] T-Robb versus Destiny's Child
In 2003, Producer Terrence "T-Robb" Robinson filed a US$200 million lawsuit against Destiny's Child, Mathew Knowles, Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia Records, Music World Entertainment, and State of Mind Muzic, Inc. claiming the song "Survivor" was a copy of his earlier demo tape "Glorious", which he had shopped to Destiny Child producer Mathew Knowles.
Previously in 2002, two former members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson had settled a libel suit out of court against Destiny's Child involving the line "You thought I wouldn't sell without you/sold nine million". An undisclosed sum was involved.
The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the T-Bird case.
[edit] Pupils from Islington Green School versus Pink Floyd
Former schoolchildren at Islington Green School, north London, who sang on Pink Floyd's 1979 single "Another Brick in the Wall" have begun action for unpaid royalties. The 23 then teenagers, have been unable to claim royalties as they recorded their vocals in secret, nor were they given any credits.
The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the Islington Green School case.
[edit] Kyle Jones versus Pink!
In 2007, musician Kyle Jones (aka Scratch) commenced proceedings against Pink! over the song "Respect" on the album M!ssundaztood. Jones alleges he was never given proper credit for the recording, nor was he paid for it. Pink!, her company Pinks Stuff, Inc. and her label Zomba Records were named in the suit.
The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the Kyle Jones case.
[edit] The Game & Timbaland versus Saregama India
Rapper The Game and producer Timbaland are being sued for copyright infringement by an India-based recording company that claims one of its tracks was sampled without permission.
Saregama India which owns the copyrights to a song, that was sampled in The Game's song "Put You on the Game" produced by Timbaland and Nate "Danjahandz" Hills for the rapper's 2005 debut album, The Documentary. The company is seeking an undisclosed amount.
The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the case.
