This Day in History: U.S. courts find George Harrison guilty of plagiarism for his song "My Sweet Lord" which was originally a 1963 Ronnie Mack song called "He's So Fine" performed by the Chiffons. "My Sweet Lord" was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number-one single by an ex-Beatle. The Chiffons hit was also a number one hit in 1963.
"The lawsuit brought by Bright Tunes Music (the company controlled by The Tokens that owned the publishing rights to 'He's So Fine') against George Harrison for plagiarizing Mack's song on 'My Sweet Lord.' The case played out like a bad episode of Law & Order, with Harrison's former manager Allen Klein consulting Bright Tunes and then buying the company. The judge ruled that the two songs were 'virtually identical" musically, and ordered damages of about $1.6 million, which was later reduced to $587,000 - the amount Klein paid for Bright Tunes.'"~Carl Wiser
The Beatles several times took someone else's material and tweaked them. Play Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" and then listen to "Come Together" by the Beatles. They borrowed from another Chuck Berry song (“I’m Talking About You”) for their song “I Saw Her Standing There.” The introduction to Pee Wee Crayton's 1954 song “Do Unto Others” sounds an awful lot like the intro to Revolution by the Fab Four. Next listen to the Beatles “I Feel Fine” and Bobby Parker's “Watch Your Step.” Humphrey Lyttelton's “Bad Penny Blues” sounds immediately like "Lady Madonna."
The Beatles were not the only ones to steal from Chuck Berry. The Beach Boys hit "Surfin' USA" is an obvious nod to Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen."
The oddest case of supposed plagiarism happened with John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. In order to be able to leave CCR, Fogerty had to sign away all of his rights to the songs. When Fogerty released "The Old Man Down the Road" from his Centerfield album, his old record company sued him for plagiarizing the CCR song "Run Through the Jungle." Fogerty was actually accused to plagiarizing himself. The songs were not the same so they lost the suit. John Fogerty despised his old record exec, Saul Zaentz, so much he included a song called "Zanz Can't Dance" (Zanz can't dance, but he'll steal your money, Watch him or he'll rob you blind) on the Centerfield album. This then led to another suit and Fogerty had to change the name of the song to "Vanz Can't Dance."
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