Famous artists who have been accused of plagiarism

In the summer of 2021, Courtney Love called out Olivia Rodrigo for allegedly copying her 'Hole' album cover. On Facebook, Love wrote, "I've informed her I await her flowers [and] note . I sure hope it's long . Does Disney teach kids reading and writing ? God knows. Let's see . Yes this is rude. Rage inducing ? Honey if I had a dollar for [every time] this happens ? I'd be real rich !" When a commenter criticized her for getting upset, she had more to say...

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Courtney Love vs. Olivia Rodrigo -

The grunge rocker replied, "Stealing an original idea and not asking permission is rude. There's no way to be elegant about it . I'm not angry . It happens all the time to me . And he really I'm very gracious or say nothing . But this was bad form . That's not bullying or bomb throwing . This persons music has nothing to do with my life . Possibly never will . It was rude And I gave every right to stick up for my work . Don't gatekeep me ! I'm honorable as f--k to my fellow artists , and I expect the same."

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Childish Gambino - 'This Is America' - Donald Glover, who goes by the stage name Childish Gambino, has been accused of plagiarism for his song 'This Is America,' for the second time. Glover was accused of plagiarism by the rapper Jase Harley a few years ago, but it didn't come to much. Now the rapper Kidd Wes is suing Glover for alleged copyright infringement, claiming that 'This Is America' is "glaringly" similar to a song he himself released two years prior. Kidd Wes is seeking a trial and damages.

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Travis Scott - 'No Bystanders' - Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul has sued the rapper in a lawsuit which claims that the 'Astroworld' song copied a portion of Three 6 Mafia’s 1997 song 'Tear Da Club Up.' DJ Paul is seeking US$20 million in damages.

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Ed Sheeran - 'Thinking Out Loud' - Sheeran was sued twice, with the lawsuits saying that he copied parts of Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' for his Grammy-winning song. Ed Townsend, the coauthor of the song with Gaye, is behind one of the lawsuits. A US judge has stated that there are "substantial similarities."

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Juice WRLD - 'Lucid Dreams' - Sting threatened to sue the rapper due to his sampling of his 1993 song 'Shape of My Heart,' even though he is getting 85% of the royalties, according to some now deleted tweets. He used Sting's guitar riff on his track 'Lucid Dreams.'

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Nicki Minaj - 'Sorry' - Tracy Chapman sued Nicki Minaj over using a sample from her song 'Baby Can I Hold You' in Minaj's track 'Sorry.' She claimed that Minaj asked for permission to use the sample multiple times after the song was already recorded, but Chapman denied the request. Despite this, Minaj gave it to a DJ at a New York station to be played on his show.

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Daft Punk and The Weeknd - ‘Starboy’ - Singer Yasminah sued the artists for at least US$5 million, claiming they lifted material from her 2009 song 'Hooyo' for their hit tune 'Starboy.'

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Miley Cyrus - ‘We Can't Stop’ - In March of 2018, Jamaican musician Flourgon filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus, claiming her song 'We Can't Stop' was "substantially similar" to his 1998 tune 'We Run Things.'

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Ed Sheeran, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw - ‘The Rest of Our Life’ - Country music star Jasmine Rae sued Sheeran, saying the song he wrote for Hill and McGraw was almost a copy of her track 'When I Found You.'

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Meghan Trainor - ‘All About That Bass’ - Trainor's smash hit was allegedly pulled from South Korean pop band Koyote's song 'Happy Mode,' according to one of the songwriters.

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The Beatles - ‘Come Together’ - The band was also hit with a suit from legendary rock star Chuck Berry in 1973, who claimed the single borrowed both lines and melodies from his song 'You Can't Catch Me.'

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Rod Stewart - ‘Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?’ - Rod Stewart's incredibly popular hit apparently used the hook from Jorge Ben's 1976 song 'Taj Mahal.' They reached a settlement and Stewart agreed to donate some of the proceeds to charity.

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Radiohead - ‘Creep’ - Radiohead's classic anthem was the reason why the band ended up in court after being sued by the Hollies, who claimed the song took from their 1973 tune 'The Air I Breathe.' Tom Yorke eventually admitted he was "inspired" by it and now they all share royalties.

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Lana Del Rey - ‘Get Free’ - The 'Creep' saga didn't stop there. In 2017, people were quick to point out how similar Lana Del Rey's track 'Get Free,' from her album 'Lust for Life,' was to Radiohead's song. The band didn't press charges but asked to be credited.

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Robin Thicke - ‘Blurred Lines’ - Robin Thicke's hit tune was engulfed in controversy for many different factors, but the main one may have been when Marvin Gaye's family sued him and Pharrell Williams for copyright infringement, claiming it was too similar to the late musician's song 'Got to Give It Up.'

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Jet - ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ - Many Iggy Pop's fans accused Jet of plagiarizing Iggy's 1977 song 'Lust for Life.' The band denied all accusations.

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David Guetta - ‘Play Hard’ - Guetta's 2012 song ‘Play Hard’ allegedly "heavily sampled" from Dutch group Alice DeeJay's single 'Better Off Alone.'

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Jay-Z - ‘Big Pimpin' - Jay-Z has had his fair share of plagiarism accusations, and one of them was about his hit 'Big Pimpin,' whose underlying hook comes from the song 'Khosara Khosara,' by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi.

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Bruno Mars - ‘Treasure’ - In 2012, musician Breakbot blasted Bruno Mars, claiming the pop star's smash hit 'Treasure' was awfully similar to his own song 'Baby I'm Yours.'

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Oasis - ‘Whatever’ - Musician Neil Innes claimed 'Whatever' had lifted from his song 'How Sweet to Be an Idiot,' and he was given a cowriting credit after hitting Oasis with a lawsuit.

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Simple Plan - ‘Your Love Is a Lie’ - Simple Plan are huge fans of Green Day... some may say even a little too much. People were quick to point out their 2007 song was a tad too similar to Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.'

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Katy Perry - ‘Roar’ - The dispute over whether Katy Perry had borrowed from Sara Bareilles's 'Brave' only ended when the latter stepped in and said they were friends and there was no reason to freak out.

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Led Zeppelin - ‘Stairway to Heaven’ - After all these years, Zeppelin were accused of stealing the intro of their classic from fellow rockers Spirit's song 'Taurus.' Jimmy Page has since called the claims "ridiculous."

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Led Zeppelin - ‘Whole Lotta Love’ - When the band recorded 'Whole Lotta Love' in 1969, they sampled Muddy Waters's 'You Need Love,' but they didn't credit songwriter Willie Dixon, who ended up suing them.

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Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida' - The Grammy-winning song won them praise, but also trouble. Coldplay had to settle out of court with guitarist Joe Satriani, after he realized they had used "substantial original portions" of his song 'If I Could Fly.'

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Avril Lavigne - 'Girlfriend' - Lavigne was hit with a suit from 1970s pop group The Rubinoos, who claimed she borrowed from their song 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.'

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The Doors - ‘Hello, I Love You’ - Legendary band The Doors had to pay royalties to fellow legendary band The Kinks for lifting their riff from 'All Day and All of the Night' for their classic 'Hello, I Love You.'

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Nirvana - ‘Come As You Are’ -

Kurt Cobain was reportedly nervous for making the grunge anthem as the single for their album for its similarities to Killing Joke's 'Eighties.' The latter opted not to sue.

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Katy Perry - ‘Dark Horse’ - Rap group Flame, alongside rapper Lecrae and John Reilly, filed a suit against Katy Perry, claiming she lifted from their Christian rap track 'Joyful Noise.'

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The Beach Boys - ‘Surfin' U.S.A.’ - Chuck Berry might be one of the most sampled artists ever, and this time it was The Beach Boys who grabbed his song 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and made it their own. The band's manager gave Berry the tune's copyright to avoid a lawsuit.

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Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean - ‘Made in America’ - The trio were accused of plagiarizing Joel McDonald's track 'Made in America,' but they ended up winning the case in 2016.

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Eminem - ‘Rap God’ - Eminem and MC Raymond Jones, from the group Hot Stylz, reportedly reached an agreement after Jones claimed Slim Shady had used a 25-second sample of one of his songs in 'Rap God.'

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Jay-Z & Beyoncé - ‘Drunk in Love’ -

Hungarian folk singer Mitsou sued the couple in 2014, claiming they had lifted the vocals from her song 'Bajba, Bajba Pelem.' The case went to court and Mitsou lost.

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Famous artists who have been accused of plagiarism

Madonna accuses rapper Tory Lanez of sampling her music without permission

29/12/21 | StarsInsider

MUSIC Copyright

Copyright infringement in the music industry can be tricky. While some songs accidentally sound like others, many hit tracks we know have actually used samples or riffs from older records without attributing proper credit, which can get artists in legal trouble. Is imitation truly the sincerest form of flattery? Many musicians don't seem to think so...

Madonna has publicly called out rapper Tory Lanez for illegally sampling her music on his album 'Alone at Prom.' She claims that he used her song 'Into The Groove' on the track 'Pluto’s Last Comet' without permission. This came to light when Madonna commented on an Instagram post where he was promoting the album. She wrote "Read your messages [for] illegal usage of my song get into the groove!", suggesting that he had already been contacted about it and hadn't responded. Lanez is already in legal trouble after allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in 2020.

Click through this gallery to see more and find out which other famous artists have been accused of plagiarism.