Other Mixes By Pop Kulcher
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You'll Be Hearing From My Lawyer: The Copyright Infringement Mix
| Artist | Song | |
| The Rubinoos | I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend | |
| Avril Lavigne | Girlfriend | |
| The Chiffons | He's So Fine | |
| George Harrison | My Sweet Lord | |
| Chuck Berry | Sweet Little Sixteen | |
| Beach Boys | Surfin' USA | |
| Cat Stevens | Father & Son | |
| Flaming Lips | Fight Test | |
| Neil Innes/Monty Python | How Sweet To Be An Idiot | |
| Oasis | Whatever | |
| Wire | Three Girl Rhumba | |
| Elastica | Connection | |
| Chuck Berry | You Can't Catch Me | |
| The Beatles | Come Togehter | |
| The Hollies | The Air That I Breathe | |
| Radiohead | Creep | |
| Muddy Waters | You Need Love | |
| Led Zeppelin | Whole Lotta Love | |
| U2 | I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For | |
| Negativland | U2 | |
Comment:
As we all read about a couple weeks ago, 70s-era power poppers the Rubinoos have sued teenybopper Avril Lavigne for nicking the hook from "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" for her "Girlfriend" single. So, hey, figured it was time for a mix of (alleged) examples of rock & roll plagiarism through the ages. Note that all of these pairings involved actual (or threatened) legal action (at least according to my online research); this is NOT a mix of songs that happen to sound alike (which I may put together later). Note also that I did not include songs where the dispute involved sampling, which is a different beast entirely.Personally, I think the issue can be a tough one. After all, rock & roll -- with many obvious exceptions -- is built around chord progressions. And, let's face it, there's only so many hooks out there. So over the past 50 years, obviously there are gonna be a lot of tunes that have some similarities, and you can't have artists suing each other every time they reuse the basic E-D-A power bar chord changes. Still, there are times where some or all of a song is just too damn familiar to chalk it up to relying on a common musical theme. Most of these (but not all) make a fair amount of sense as legally questionable.
1-2) The latest dispute ("Girlfriend"/"Boyfriend") may be the most questionable. The "hey, you" shout-out isn't totally original in the first place (you could just as easily accuse the Rubinoos of lifting it from the Stones' "Get Off My Cloud"), though pairing it with "boyfriend"/"girlfriend" is a bit more suspect, and it's not hard to suspect that whoever ghost-wrote it for Avril had at least heard the Rubinoos tune at some point in his/her life.
3-4) The George Harrison lawsuit is one of the most famous/notorious rock plagiarism cases, so you can read all about it elsewhere. No question the songs are damn close, though, unfortunately, the litigation was in large part due to Allen Klein being quite the asshole.
5-6) "Surfin' USA" is, of course, a direct and complete Chuck Berry rip-off, such that the band ended up giving him a co-writing credit for the song once they got caught (though apparently this was done by the Wilson brothers' father, who never bothered to tell the boys about it).
7-8) The next one I'm not so sure about... yeah, the Cat Stevens/Fight Test chord progression is pretty identical, but the songs are so different sonically that this seems (to me) more like the more common recycling of a riff than a total rip-off; still, Coyne & the boys are respectable gents and apparently just wrote Cat (er, Yusuf) a check when the similarity was pointed out to them.
9-10) Oasis routinely steal from others, but their use of the melody and phrasing from the song Neil Innes (ex-Bonzo Dog Band, Rutles) wrote for Monty Python shows is pretty damn brazen.
11-12) The Elastica one always struck me as a lame lawsuit; sure, the Wire riff is pretty obvious, but it's tweaked enough that to my ears it seems like fair use, more a tribute than a rip-off.
Notes concluded in feedback below.
Feedback:
Comments, continued:
13-14) Chuck Berry again... much tougher here. The songs are pretty different, and while Lennon did borrow the phrasing (and some lyrics), which was apparently pointed out to him by McCartney at the time (who came up with the distinctive "Come Together" bassline to distinguish the songs), I listen to the two back-to-back and don't see it as that bad a steal.
15-16) No question that the chorus of "Creep" comes right out of "Air That I Breathe" (written by the legendary Albert Hammond -- perhaps best known as the writer of "It Never Rains In Southern California" and as the father of a Stroke -- and covered most famously by the Hollies), as Yorke has pretty much admitted -- he ultimately gave Hammond a co-writing credit when contacted by the music publisher.
17-18) Led Zep, of course, stole a whole lotta blues riffs, but this nick from bluesman Willie Dixon got 'em in a bit of legal hot water. (Notably,the more famous Muddy Waters cover was itself uncredited to Dixon, so Muddy got to write a check as well.)
19-20) Finally, the Negativland "U2" controversy made for one of the more famous lawsuits in recent times; they got sued not just for using the U2 riff, but for the packaging of the single with a big-ass "U2" on the cover, risking buyer confusion. That said, this seems like one of the more troubling lawsuits, as Negativland seems to be making a true artistic statement, reconfiguring the U2 riff in a wholly new fashion -- more akin to sampling, for which there may be a fair use argument. Plus the Negativland song is cool as hell. If anyone should have sued, it's Casey Kasem, whose profane ramblings, stolen from the studio, are what make the song.
13-14) Chuck Berry again... much tougher here. The songs are pretty different, and while Lennon did borrow the phrasing (and some lyrics), which was apparently pointed out to him by McCartney at the time (who came up with the distinctive "Come Together" bassline to distinguish the songs), I listen to the two back-to-back and don't see it as that bad a steal.
15-16) No question that the chorus of "Creep" comes right out of "Air That I Breathe" (written by the legendary Albert Hammond -- perhaps best known as the writer of "It Never Rains In Southern California" and as the father of a Stroke -- and covered most famously by the Hollies), as Yorke has pretty much admitted -- he ultimately gave Hammond a co-writing credit when contacted by the music publisher.
17-18) Led Zep, of course, stole a whole lotta blues riffs, but this nick from bluesman Willie Dixon got 'em in a bit of legal hot water. (Notably,the more famous Muddy Waters cover was itself uncredited to Dixon, so Muddy got to write a check as well.)
19-20) Finally, the Negativland "U2" controversy made for one of the more famous lawsuits in recent times; they got sued not just for using the U2 riff, but for the packaging of the single with a big-ass "U2" on the cover, risking buyer confusion. That said, this seems like one of the more troubling lawsuits, as Negativland seems to be making a true artistic statement, reconfiguring the U2 riff in a wholly new fashion -- more akin to sampling, for which there may be a fair use argument. Plus the Negativland song is cool as hell. If anyone should have sued, it's Casey Kasem, whose profane ramblings, stolen from the studio, are what make the song.
Clarification: Meant to say it's the verses of "Creep" borrowed from "Air," not the chorus.
This made me chuckle. It's well thought out, and I certainly appreciate the liner notes and the cover! Kudos to you once again on a brilliant mix, sir.
Solid work and theme.
Hey, looks like a nice mix. The one I always think of is "Ice Ice Baby", by Vanilla Ice, which sounded all too much like the earlier David Bowie and Queen song, "Under Pressure"
Great concept, perfectly executed. I expect volume 2 will have the Andrew Oldham Orchestra version of "The Last Time" backed with Bittersweet Symphony.
This made me chuckle. It's well thought out, and I certainly appreciate the liner notes and the cover! Kudos to you once again on a brilliant mix, sir. [With apologies to Ginatron :-)]
this is pretty fantastic, and i learned a bit from it!
Did Avril at least buy the sheet music? Or did she just download the song and go from there?
Fantastic mix and notes -- and fitting coming from someone in the legal profession. Will have to relisten to some of these songs again to spot the similarities, especially 15-16 and 7-8. Saw Avril do Girlfriend on SNL last night, and yes it does almost sound like a cover of the Rubinoos' modest hit (though the power pop band didn't have choreographed female back-up singers, your honor). One other example that comes to mind is Ghostbusters/I Want A New Drug, though I never want to hear either song again. Ever.
Great concept, mix and cover!!
Delightful & educational. But really, shouldn't you be making pirated copies of these songs available for download?
Like Sir Moe the GB / New Drug omission was most notable and most appreciated. Excellent theme.
Awesome idea - and edumacational!
I could have swon I had commented on this ! I love Jenergy's comment . . .
great-looking set, but I agree with Jenergy: a mix with that title should certainly be available for download.
Great idea. 3-4, 5-6, 9-10 and 11-12 are of course blatant. And did the Lips really not know Fight Test sounded like F&S until it was pointed out to them? Don't know about the last paring. I've never heard of them & I don't think I want to. And after re-listening to 15 & 16 just then, I simply don't get it at all. Strange. Oh and I may be in the minority here but I think 'The Air That I Breathe' is a much better song...
***** due to the inclusion of my favorite Negativland cut... and the rest, which is nearly as much fun, leads to it flawlessly!
Cool mix and idea. I know what you mean about the issue being tough to sort, but almost every one of these is sooooo friggin' blatant (esp the Wire/Elastica deal) that there's no question... except Negativland, which is obviously using the U2 hook for its own subversive purposes. ;-)
Wait a second... I need to retract one implied part of my statement below: "Fight Test" and "Father and Son" are *not* the same song.
Great idea. 3-4, 5-6, 9-10 and 11-12 are of course blatant. And did the Lips really not know Fight Test sounded like
sooooo friggin' blatant (esp the Wire/Elastica deal) that there's no question
this is pretty fantastic, and i learned a bit from it!
Did Avril at least buy the sheet music? Or shouldn't you be making pirated copies of these songs available for download?
c2007 All rights retained by original commentators.
sooooo friggin' blatant (esp the Wire/Elastica deal) that there's no question
this is pretty fantastic, and i learned a bit from it!
Did Avril at least buy the sheet music? Or shouldn't you be making pirated copies of these songs available for download?
c2007 All rights retained by original commentators.
Great concept, notes, cover & execution!