Whether by coincidence, osmosis, common ancestry or, you know, theft, there are plenty of hit songs that sound strangely similar to pre-existing material… or do they? Enter the lawsuit. While some artists and songwriters shrug off similarities, others take it to court, demanding what they perceive is their due when it comes to alleged copyright infringement.
Of course, music history – especially when it comes to pre-recorded music – is rife with songs that were inspired by (or wholesale stolen from) previous material. Early rock n’ roll songs frequently lifted riffs, lyrics and chords from classic blues and country songs, which themselves were often based on folk tunes, African-American spirituals and work songs, nursery rhymes and even melodies from classical compositions. If you could time travel and track the authorship of songs as simple as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” or “Yankee Doodle,” the list of co-writers for each would probably run north of two dozen by modern standards of crediting songwriters for their contributions.
As recorded music became big business over the 20th century (and new technology made it easier to track song authorship and a writer’s exposure to previous material), copyright lawsuits became a regular occurrence in the music industry. But the litigation really took off in the 2010s, after a landmark lawsuit between the estate of Marvin Gaye and Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over “Blurred Lines” made things a bit more muddled (or blurred, if you will).
In the aftermath of the “Blurred Lines” case, many songwriters opted to credit scribes whose copyrighted material bore even a passing resemblance to theirs, assuming it was easier to give credit than deal with a protracted, expensive lawsuit. But more recently, many artists have started to fight back, fearing that settling with accusers was leading to more unjustified lawsuits. Led Zeppelin, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all won high-profile victories in recent years, defeating copyright cases by arguing that basic musical building blocks must be free for everyone to use.
It’s worth mentioning that technically, plagiarism (taking someone else’s efforts and presenting it as your own original work) is not illegal in the United States. If a dispute over a song reaches the courts, it’s over copyright infringement, not plagiarism, so the arguments over these songs are about whether someone ran afoul of copyright law. (Although most people tsk-tsk plagiarists, too.)
The songs on this list share two things in common: They topped the Billboard Hot 100, and some people believe they lifted elements from a previously existing song. Inclusion on this list doesn’t imply wrongdoing. Several of these disagreements settled out of court; one was settled without any lawsuit being filed; and one artist handily won their case against the accuser.
Read on to see how the rest of the songs fared.
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“Come Together”
Some might argue that the man most responsible for forming rock n’ roll could sue any number of ’50s and ’60s hitmakers for lifting his sound. While Berry might not have been litigious, the people who owned the publishing rights to some of his material were. Big Seven Music Corp. (owned by Morris Levy) brought a lawsuit against John Lennon for alleged similarities between Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” and the Beatles’ “Come Together,” a one-week No. 1 in 1969. Berry’s song featured the line, “Here come a flat-top, he was movin’ up with me,” while the Lennon composition includes the lyric, “Here come ol’ flat-top, he come groovin’ up slowly.” The case was settled out of court, with Lennon agreeing to record three rock n’ roll songs owned by Levy. Lennon only officially released two: “Ya Ya” and “You Can’t Catch Me.”
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“My Sweet Lord”
When George Harrison notched his first solo No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1970 with “My Sweet Lord,” things were looking up for the freed Beatle. Six years later, a legal battle dampened that victory when a court decided he “subconsciously” copied the Chiffons song “He’s So Fine,” written by Ronald Mack. Harrison claimed the court battle left him too “paranoid” to write new songs for some time.
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“How Deep Is Your Love”
Nearly six years after the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love” topped the Hot 100 in late 1977, a songwriter named Ronald Selle alleged that their hit stole from his 1975 demo “Let It End.” While a jury initially found in favor of Selle, the judge permitted the Bee Gees a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and ruled in their favor. An appeal to a higher court also found in favor of the Bee Gees.
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“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor alleged that Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” — a four-week No. 1 in 1979 — plagiarized portions of his song “Taj Mahal.” The two settled out of court, and in his 2012 autobiography, Stewart admitted to “unconscious plagiarism.”
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“Ghostbusters”
In 1984, Ray Parker Jr. asked “who you gonna call?” on his Hot 100 No. 1 “Ghostbusters,” the theme to the film of the same name, which topped the chart for three weeks that year. Huey Lewis heard the song and answered, “A lawyer.” Lewis sued Parker for plagiarism for copying his song “I Want a New Drug”; the two eventually settled out of court.
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“Ice Ice Baby”
Vanilla Ice rode a funky bass line to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1990, giving hip-hop its first-ever No. 1 hit on that chart. Unfortunately for him, plenty of listeners pointed out the song’s similarity to the 1981 song “Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen. While Vanilla Ice denied the similarity at first, he later relented and decided to pay both parties royalties in order to avoid a court battle.
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“Viva la Vida”
Coldplay scored their first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008 with “Viva la Vida,” attracting the attention of guitarist Joe Satriani, who claimed it copied parts of his 2004 instrumental track “If I Could Fly.” The band called it a coincidence but settled out of court with him in 2009.
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“Blurred Lines”
“Blurred Lines” was the song of the summer in 2013, topping the Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks. The estate of Marvin Gaye took notice, accusing Robin Thicke and Pharrell of ripping off Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up” for their smash hit. In March 2015, a jury came down on the side of the Gaye estate, awarding them $7.4 million. The amount was later reduced to nearly $5 million in 2018.
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“Dark Horse”
Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J, topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in 2014. Not long after, the pop star was hit with a lawsuit alleging her song infringed on the 2008 track “Joyful Noise” by Christian artist Flame. A protracted but consequential legal battle ensued over a brief sequence of notes. In 2019, a jury found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded them $2.78 million, but in 2020, a judge overturned the verdict, ruling the musical sequence in question was too simple to copyright. In 2022, a federal appeals court also ruled in favor of Perry and her co-defendants, reasoning that the notes in question were basic building blocks of music.
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“Shape of You”
Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” which topped the Hot 100 for 12 weeks in 2017, was hit with a copyright lawsuit which alleged the single was “strikingly similar” to a portion of the song “Oh Why” from grime artist Sami Chokri. In June 2022, a judge ruled in Sheeran’s favor, and awarded Sheeran and his co-writers $1.1 million in legal costs.
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“7 Rings”
Grande’s “7 Rings” features a prominent sample of The Sound of Music classic “My Favorite Things,” and it tipped to that, listing Rodgers & Hammerstein as co-writers when it debuted in 2019. But one year (and eight weeks atop the Hot 100) later, singer-producer Josh Stone filed a lawsuit alleging the Grande hit ripped off his 2017 single “You Need I Got It.” In early 2021, the disagreement was settled out of court.
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“Truth Hurts”
Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” came out in 2017 but didn’t become a hit until 2019 when it topped the Hot 100 for seven weeks. That same year, three people accused Lizzo of failing to properly credit them for their contributions to the song and filed suit. In 2021, a judge dismissed several of the claims against Lizzo, and in 2022, all parties reached an agreement to dismiss the matter.
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“Good 4 U”
Three months after Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” topped the Hot 100, Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, who co-wrote Paramore’s 2007 hit “Misery Business,” were officially added as songwriters to the tune. Prior to the official update on the song’s credits, commentators noted similarities between Rodrigo’s second chart-topper and Paramore’s pop-punk classic. Reps for Rodrigo and Paramore had reportedly been in touch prior to the song’s release.
