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Post by soonerbillz on Sept 3, 2023 18:43:17 GMT
More on Harrison's I'll fated court case:
đź”´ AUGUST 31 1976
George Harrison is found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" in a bizarre lawsuit that leaves songwriters baffled.
A judge rules that Harrison's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord" is musically similar to "He's So Fine," a 1963 hit for the girl group The Chiffons, and orders him to pay nearly $1.6 million in damages.
The lawsuit was filed by Bright Tunes Music on February 10, 1971 as "My Sweet Lord" was falling down the charts. Bright Tunes is controlled by The Tokens, who set it up as part of their production company, which produced "He's So Fine" and owns the publishing rights. The song's writer, Ronnie Mack, died of cancer shortly after the song was released.
Harrison tried to settle the case, but Bright Tunes rejected the offer and the case was tried over three days in February 1976. After hearing all about musical motifs and chord progressions, the judge declares the songs "virtually identical," but admits Harrison didn't do it on purpose. Still, this "subconscious plagiarism" doesn't exonerate him, and he's on the hook.
Harrison mocks the case on "This Song," a track from his November 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3. "This song... Don't infringe on anyone's copyright," he sings.
Frustrated and depleted from the case, Harrison doesn't release another album until 1979
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Post by Buck on Sept 17, 2023 17:00:56 GMT
I can't listen to "My Sweet Lord" without hearing "He's So Fine." I cannot think of any other song that does something similar. George likely didn't hear the Chiffon's song as much as we did here in the US.
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pacnw
Junior Member
Posts: 74 
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Post by pacnw on Sept 17, 2023 21:59:07 GMT
I guess it wasn't the first time someone had to pay for a similar melody or vibe. I think The Hollies had to pay John Fogerty for their "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress".
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Post by redhouserocker on Sept 18, 2023 0:35:28 GMT
I can't listen to "My Sweet Lord" without hearing "He's So Fine." I cannot think of any other song that does something similar. George likely didn't hear the Chiffon's song as much as we did here in the US. I had the exact same impression the first time I heard it back in 1970...I was around 11 at the time. I suppose it's possible he independently came up with that melody if "He's So Fine" wasn't a hit in England....but wow it was pretty much a dead ringer in parts. |
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Post by The Ocean on Sept 18, 2023 0:52:16 GMT
I accidentally “wrote” Fields of Gold and brought it to band practice and was told within seconds my verse melody was Sting 🤣🤣🤣
I didn’t even realize it until they said it.
Although there was another thing I wrote that our other guitarist insists sounds like the guitar riff from All You Zombies by The Hooters and my response has always been that it’s different ENOUGH.
There aren’t enough ideas around to avoid even accidentally copying something. There may be a lot of combinations of notes possible but once you narrow it down to pleasant sounding cadences that number of possibilities gets a LOT smaller.
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Post by luxexterior on Sept 18, 2023 16:29:21 GMT
I accidentally “wrote” Fields of Gold and brought it to band practice and was told within seconds my verse melody was Sting 🤣🤣🤣 I didn’t even realize it until they said it. Although there was another thing I wrote that our other guitarist insists sounds like the guitar riff from All You Zombies by The Hooters and my response has always been that it’s different ENOUGH. There aren’t enough ideas around to avoid even accidentally copying something. There may be a lot of combinations of notes possible but once you narrow it down to pleasant sounding cadences that number of possibilities gets a LOT smaller. Not quite the same but I was playing bass in a band circa 1982/83 & during a rehearsal the guitarist asked if anybody else in the band had "anything new". I went through four or five things I "had" with no response from the rest of the band & as they lost interest I slipped into the riff from The Red & The Black, that's brilliant the guitarist exclaimed swiftly followed by the singer, who had lyrics that could fit. I protested that the tune was actually The R & The B by BOC they all looked blankly at me, picked up the tune with the singer working his words to fit.
We continued to work on it despite my continuing protests, making a few changes, & played it around four times as part of our set, we called it TV Screen. It went down pretty but after the fouth gig someone mentioned to us that it sounded just like The R & The B. At our next practice my bandmates had obviously done a little homework & were no longer so keen on "TV Screen" we never played it again.  |
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Post by duckbarman on Sept 18, 2023 22:55:58 GMT
Is this "subconscious", or just plain "unconscious"...?
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Post by joe on Sept 19, 2023 1:55:54 GMT
With the advances happening in AI generated lyrics and music, what's gonna happen when a musical collision occurs? One piece of software gonna sue the other?
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Post by luxexterior on Sept 19, 2023 12:11:22 GMT
Is this "subconscious", or just plain "unconscious"...? Wild Child by The Doors has a similar albeit slower version of the riff. My guess is that they all copped it from Sun House or some other Blues elder. |
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Post by duckbarman on Sept 19, 2023 15:53:12 GMT
Is this "subconscious", or just plain "unconscious"...? Wild Child by The Doors has a similar albeit slower version of the riff. My guess is that they all copped it from Sun House or some other Blues elder. I'd have said more Red & Black than BTK, but as to your other point, some of those early blues guys have sure had their pockets picked by many of those who came after them and a lot of the time they don't even get any credit... |
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Post by Buck on Sept 29, 2023 2:08:52 GMT
Blame Albert if that's a lift from Jeff Beck. I never heard that song before today. Ha.
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Post by The Ocean on Sept 30, 2023 3:44:31 GMT
Blame Albert if that's a lift from Jeff Beck. I never heard that song before today. Ha. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. |
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Post by duckbarman on Oct 22, 2023 23:00:40 GMT
Talking of "Before the Kiss", I noticed it made the following list of songs that apparently have not stood the test of time: loudwire.com/rock-metal-lyrics-didnt-age-well/What's its crime, you might wonder...? This line, apparently: "Where thrills become as cheap as gas / And gas as cheap as thrills"
The writer, and please make sure you're sitting down before you read this next bit because it's pretty shocking, has come to the stunning realisation that 1972 prices - specifically in this case, those that were petroleum-related - were much cheaper than those available in 2023... this, therefore, clearly invalidates the whole song... Here was me, loving that song all these years, but all that time it's been a complete lie... what are they going to tell me next? That there were only six screaming Dizbusters...? |
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Post by Espo on Oct 22, 2023 23:32:43 GMT
My local cable channel airs the old TV show Emergency. I was watching the other day and the soundtrack of one scene was EXACTLY like Subhuman. Being that they are both from around the same time frame, were the boys watching and lifted it or were the show producers BOC fans? Too funny!
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Post by eastmark on Oct 22, 2023 23:38:23 GMT
You can drive my motorcar. It’s insured to 30 thou. Haha !
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