Top 10 Songs That Led to Huge Lawsuits

Katy Perry
Katy Perry, with her hit single “Dark Horse,” was accused by Christian rapper Flame of using the same beats and instrumentals featured on his 2008 song, “Joyful Noise.” Though the rapper initially won the suit and was awarded 2.8 million dollars for copyright infringement, the ruling was reversed in 2020. In the original ruling, Perry was accused of copying an 8 note ostinato (which is a continually repeated musical rhythm or lyric). A judge in 2020 found that the sequence was not all original or rare, and thus gave the case to Perry. It is a little difficult to hear the similarity between the two tunes, but that might just be to the untrained ear.

Oasis
Oasis didn’t always just fight amongst themselves as a band. They also had some legal issues to sort out. The 1994 single “Shakermaker” may sound familiar. Oasis was sued by 1970s band The New Seekers, the band responsible for “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,” made popular by Coca-Cola commercials. The Seekers won and were awarded half a million dollars for unlawful use of their song. Originally, “Shakermaker” was supposed to open with the exact same lyric as The New Seekers song, but Oasis had to change it due to copyright. But they wouldn’t notice the melody, right? Well, they did. When asked about his thoughts on the case, Noel Gallagher said “Now we all drink Pepsi.”

Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X grew to extreme popularity in the past few years. Unfortunately, with great popularity comes great lawsuits. His 2018 hit single “Carry On” borrowed a little too much from Bobby Caldwell’s 1982 song of the same title, and Nas was slapped with a 25 million dollar lawsuit. Basically (and this can easily be heard when comparing both tunes) he borrowed from the 1982 song without permission. The claim is divided into 2 suits, Nas for unlawful use and Sony Music for punitive damages, citing the label as not properly verifying its artists’ songs in the pursuit of fortune. The results of the case haven’t been publicized, but we can’t assume it’ll end in Nas’s favor.

Miley Cyrus
Sometimes, the plaintiffs get a little greedy. Miley Cyrus’ 2013 single “We Can’t Stop” sounded familiar to Jamaican songwriter Flourgon. He claimed Cyrus’s song bears a resemblance to his 1988 song “We Run Things” in general, as well as borrows from his lyrics. So, Flourgon sued for a massive amount of 300 million dollars. The suit was settled in early 2020. However, the details haven’t been released to the public. The main lyric borrowed was “we run things, things no run we,” which Cyrus sang as “we run things, things don’t run we.” It’s a fairly specific phrase. Other details are scarce, but it’s nice to see the little guy come out triumphant sometimes.

George Harrison
There can’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind that one of the biggest bands in musical history and its members were sued on more than one occasion. Early in George Harrison’s solo career, he was sued by Bright Tunes Music Corporation concerning his song “My Sweet Lord.” The song musically resembles The Chiffons’ 1963 hit “He’s So Fine,” and this can be heard by the untrained ear. Harrison claimed to have drawn inspiration from “Oh Happy Day,” as had “He’s So Fine,” and that the former Beatle was aware of the Chiffons tune. Therefore, it was deemed that Harrison subconsciously borrowed from “He’s So Fine,” yet this doesn’t absolve one from copyright infringement. He was ordered to pay the label 1.6 million dollars in 1976.

Black Eyed Peas
This one is really down to record label politics. DJ Lynn Tolliver recorded his song “I Need a Freak” in 1983, and had the song registered with BMI as its songwriter. The song was subsequently lent out for use despite Tolliver’s legal efforts to put a stop to it. The producer responsible for lending the track ignored Tolliver and continued, thus it was sampled by the Black Eyed Peas. The court case was riddled with the producer’s multiple versions of the story, but ultimately, Tolliver was awarded 1.2 million dollars. This is one of those cases where the band was really not at fault.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is no stranger to lawsuits. In the same year, he had 2 major suits going on, the first being his song “Photograph” accused of blatantly stealing (at some points note-for-note) from Matt Cardle’s song “Amazing.” The second was for a song from the same album, “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran was slapped with a multi-million dollar lawsuit in 2018 for allegedly borrowing a little too heavily from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” notably in the drum and bass rhythm arrangements. In March of 2021, Sheeran attempted to have the case dismissed, but his bid was rejected by a US District Judge, who stated that Sheeran must face the charges against him.

Vanilla Ice
The results of this one might irk a few fans of the legendary band, Queen. Back in 1990, Vanilla Ice had teens stopping, collaborating, and listening to his hit single “Ice Ice Baby.” However, anyone with any knowledge of classic rock recognized that bassline right away: it was ripped directly from Queen and David Bowie’s collaborative 1981 song, “Under Pressure.” Ice soon found himself being sued by both Queen and Bowie. Ice claimed that he avoided the suit by purchasing the rights to “Under Pressure.” However, a Queen spokesperson says that Ice’s statement isn’t entirely accurate, stating, “An arrangement was made whereby the publishing in the song was shared.”

Michael Bolton
In the early 90s, Michael Bolton found himself in hot water following the release of the hit single “Love is a Wonderful Thing.” It turned out that The Isley Brothers (best known for “It’s Your Thing” and “Shout”) had released a 45 rpm single of the same title back in 1964. Though Bolton and his manager claimed to have never heard the original song, that’s a little hard to believe when you compare the two singles. The Isley Brothers won their case and were awarded 5 million dollars, which at the time was the highest payout for musical copyright infringement ever awarded. At least we can all agree that love is, in fact, a wonderful thing.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Stairway to Heaven” (1971), Led Zeppelin
Accused of Stealing the Intro from “Taurus” by a Band Called Spirit

“The Old Man Down the Road” (1984), John Fogerty
Accused of Plagiarizing Himself from His CCR Days: the “Run Through the Jungle” Chorus

“Creep” (1992), Radiohead
Accused of Being Too Similar to The Hollies’ Track, “The Air That I Breathe”

“Uptown Funk” (2014), Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
Accused of Stealing from The Gap Band’s 1979 Song, “Oops Up Side Your Head”

“Folsom Prison Blues” (1955), Johnny Cash
Accused of Borrowing Melody & Lyrics from “Crescent City Blues” by Gordon Jenkins

Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell Williams
Remember 2013, when all you heard all year was this song? Well, Marvin Gaye’s family heard it too, and they weren’t too pleased. In 2013, Gaye’s family filed a lawsuit, claiming that the hit single copied from Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” To the untrained ear, the opening of both songs is strikingly similar, as is the rhythm. Gaye’s family was triumphant and were awarded approximately 5 million dollars, as well as half of all future royalties “Blurred Lines” accrues. One thing we can say from this and some of the other lawsuits featured in this list: don’t mess with Marvin Gaye’s music.