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0 / 35 Fotos
Lady Gaga - Steve Ronson has threatened Lady Gaga with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, as he says that she copied the melody for her song 'Shallow' (from 'A Star is Born') from his song 'Almost.' The singer denies the claim.
© Getty Images
1 / 35 Fotos
Katy Perry - 'Dark Horse'
- After a week-long trial, a US court ruled that Katy Perry copied parts of 'Joyful Noise' by Flame, for her hit song 'Dark Horse.' The jury ruled against Perry, who even offered to perform her song because the courtroom speakers were broken. (Photo #2: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)
© Getty Images/Wikimedia/Creative Commons
2 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
3 / 35 Fotos
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."
© Getty Images
4 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
5 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
6 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
7 / 35 Fotos
Childish Gambino - ‘This is America’ - Donald Glover was accused of stealing his smash single from New York rapper Jase Harley's 'American Pharaoh.' Harley then posted a statement on Instagram, saying he was "humbled to be recognized" as an inspiration for the track.
© Getty Images
8 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
9 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
10 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
11 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
12 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
13 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
14 / 35 Fotos
Lana Del Rey - ‘Get Free’ - The 'Creep' saga didn't stop there. Last year, people were quick to point out how similar Lana Del Rey's track 'Get Free,' from her latest album 'Lust for Life,' was to Radiohead's song. The band didn't press charges but asked to be credited.
© Getty Images
15 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
16 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
17 / 35 Fotos
David Guetta - ‘Play Hard’ - Guetta's 2012 song ‘Play Hard’ allegedly "heavily sampled" from Dutch group Alice DeeJay's single 'Better Off Alone.'
© Getty Images
18 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
19 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
20 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
21 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
22 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
23 / 35 Fotos
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."
© Getty Images
24 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
25 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
26 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
27 / 35 Fotos
One Direction - ‘Live While We're Young’ - Music critics panned 1D's hit track for its similarities to The Clash's riff in 'Should I Stay or Should I Go.'
© Getty Images
28 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
29 / 35 Fotos
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.
© BrunoPress
30 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
31 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
32 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
33 / 35 Fotos
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. See also: Celebrities who have sued their own parents.
© Getty Images
34 / 35 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 35 Fotos
Lady Gaga - Steve Ronson has threatened Lady Gaga with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, as he says that she copied the melody for her song 'Shallow' (from 'A Star is Born') from his song 'Almost.' The singer denies the claim.
© Getty Images
1 / 35 Fotos
Katy Perry - 'Dark Horse'
- After a week-long trial, a US court ruled that Katy Perry copied parts of 'Joyful Noise' by Flame, for her hit song 'Dark Horse.' The jury ruled against Perry, who even offered to perform her song because the courtroom speakers were broken. (Photo #2: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)
© Getty Images/Wikimedia/Creative Commons
2 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
3 / 35 Fotos
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."
© Getty Images
4 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
5 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
6 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
7 / 35 Fotos
Childish Gambino - ‘This is America’ - Donald Glover was accused of stealing his smash single from New York rapper Jase Harley's 'American Pharaoh.' Harley then posted a statement on Instagram, saying he was "humbled to be recognized" as an inspiration for the track.
© Getty Images
8 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
9 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
10 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
11 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
12 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
13 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
14 / 35 Fotos
Lana Del Rey - ‘Get Free’ - The 'Creep' saga didn't stop there. Last year, people were quick to point out how similar Lana Del Rey's track 'Get Free,' from her latest album 'Lust for Life,' was to Radiohead's song. The band didn't press charges but asked to be credited.
© Getty Images
15 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
16 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
17 / 35 Fotos
David Guetta - ‘Play Hard’ - Guetta's 2012 song ‘Play Hard’ allegedly "heavily sampled" from Dutch group Alice DeeJay's single 'Better Off Alone.'
© Getty Images
18 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
19 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
20 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
21 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
22 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
23 / 35 Fotos
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."
© Getty Images
24 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
25 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
26 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
27 / 35 Fotos
One Direction - ‘Live While We're Young’ - Music critics panned 1D's hit track for its similarities to The Clash's riff in 'Should I Stay or Should I Go.'
© Getty Images
28 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
29 / 35 Fotos
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.
© BrunoPress
30 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
31 / 35 Fotos
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.
© Getty Images
32 / 35 Fotos
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.'
© Getty Images
33 / 35 Fotos
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. See also: Celebrities who have sued their own parents.
© Getty Images
34 / 35 Fotos
Lady Gaga and other artists who have been accused of plagiarism
Lady Gaga is being accused of plagiarism over her song 'Shallow'
© Getty Images
Copyright infringement in the music industry can be tricky sometimes. 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.
Click through this gallery to see which famous artists have been accused of plagiarism.
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