Pop Artists

Music copyright is very complicated and over the years dozens of famous artists have been sued for alleged copyright infringement. Did you know that these three artists were also sued for plagiarism? 1. Tom Petty vs. Sam Smith. Smith gave Petty 12.5% songwriting credits for 'Stay with Me' after Petty noticed a similarity between it and his song 'I Won’t Back Down'. Petty was understanding and released a statement claiming that it was likely subconscious plagiarism, so the case was never brought to trial. 2. Radiohead vs. Lana Del Rey. Radiohead sued Del Rey over her song 'Get Free' as they claimed the song had a striking resemblance to their song 'Creep'. The band demanded 100% of the publishing rights but Del Rey’s lawyer had a counteroffer of 40%. Both parties eventually reached an unknown settlement and Del Rey announced that she had ended the lawsuit while performing. 3. Joe Satriani vs. Coldplay. 15-time Grammy nominee Joe Satriani sued Coldplay, claiming that their song 'Viva La Vida' sounded too similar to his song 'If I Could Fly'. Not much is known about the case as both parties agreed on an undisclosed settlement in 2009.