The career of almost any musician is constantly accompanied by various disputes and scandals. Sometimes claims may be related to accusations of plagiarism from other songwriters, although each song is subject to copyright protection. History knows many cases when lawsuits came to lengthy and high-profile court proceedings, which were followed by the whole world.

One-half of the musicians declare that coincidences cannot be avoided because no one comes up with new chords and notes, and the other half advocates that there should be no imitators in music. In any case, there are no fewer lawsuits, and more and more news about fresh proceedings gets into the press.

In this article, we will talk about the cases of musical plagiarism that have thundered the loudest all over the world. These cases are still being talked about, and fans of musicians are still arguing about which of their idols owns the music and songs.

1. Chuck Berry vs. The Beach Boys

A large number of well-known bands began their star trek by performing covers, for example, the Rolling Stones. However, The Beach Boys went further and completely borrowed the melody of Chuck Berry’s song “Sweet Little Sixteen” for their first hit, “Surfin’ USA.” At that time, Chuck Berry was already a rock-and-roll legend and one of the most respected guitarists in the world. As soon as the song “Surfin’ the USA” hit the first line of the chart, Chuck Berry sued the Wilson brothers, who did not just copy the tune of the song but also adopted the manner of Berry’s playing.

As a result, The Beach Boys’ rise to the peak of popularity was overshadowed by lawsuits and subsequent proceedings.

2. Queen and David Bowie vs. Vanilla Ice

In 1981, the legendary track “Under Pressure” was released. It was a collaboration of such famous artists as Queen and David Bowie. 10 years later, an almost unknown rapper Vanilla Ice released the track “Ice Ice Baby,” which was based on the melody from “Under Pressure.” The creators of the original song did not leave such an act unpunished, and after a short time, Vanilla Ice was forced to pay the penalty.

3. The New Seekers vs. Oasis

Before becoming one of the most famous and influential British rock bands of the 90s, Oasis band managed to become a participant in the plagiarism scandal. At the dawn of success, Oasis’ used the melody of the 1974 song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” by The New Seekers. Despite the excuses of Oasis’ soloists, the founders of The New Seekers received $500,000 through the court for using their music.

4. Lana Del Ray vs. Radiohead vs. Albert Hammond

In 2018, the young singer of the song “Get Free” began receiving threats of lawsuits from the Radiohead group for plagiarizing their major hit “Creep.” The case did not reach a real court. However, the funniest thing is that a few decades earlier, Radiohead was sued by musicians Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood for the fact that the song “Creep” is plagiarism of their melody “The Air That I Breathe.”

5. Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams vs. Marvin Gaye

In the early 2010s, a joint track by Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and rapper T.I. called “Blurred Lines” was released. Very soon, the creators of the song were accused of plagiarizing the 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” by the authorship of rhythm-and-blues legend Marvin Gray, nicknamed “the Prince of Motown.” Gray’s family proved the fact of plagiarism and won $5 million in court five years after the release of the track.