On Tuesday, the family of Marvin Gaye filed suit against Miley Cyrus twerk object Robin Thicke for ripping off the late soul singer’s music. Gaye’s heirs claim Thicke’s songs “Blurred Lines” and “Love After War” sound a bit too close for comfort to “Got to Give It Up” and “After the Dance.”
This is hardly the first time an artist has been accused of musical plagiarism. Here are a few famous cases of supposed overlap and the relevant tunes. Judge for yourself.
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1. The Doors’ “Hello, I Love You” vs. The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night”
The brother of Kinks member Ray Davies, Dave Davies, claimed in his autobiography that the Doors had clearly ripped of Ray’s song. The chord structures are similar and the choruses virtually identical. Dave wrote that The Kinks were intent on suing but were advised by their lawyer that it wouldn’t be worth the trouble.
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2. Steve Winwood’s “Roll With It” vs. Junior Walker and the All-Star’s “I’m a Roadrunner”
Winwood was famously sued in 1990 over his biggest hit. The matter was settled out of court, but today, the writers of “I’m a Roadrunner” officially share credit on “Roll With It.”
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3. Phil Collins’ “Sussudio” vs. Prince’s “1999”
The melody on the two songs is different, but the synth underlying both is pretty similar. Collins later said that Prince was an inspiration in writing the song, but that he had altered it because it began to sound a bit too much like the Purple One.
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4. The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” vs. Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”
Beach Boy Brian Wilson has said that he wrote “Surfin’ U.S.A.” while humming “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Berry was awarded partial copyright on the song and now shares a writing credit.
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5. TLC’s “Waterfalls” vs. Paul McCartney’s “Waterfalls”
McCartney told the Onion AV Club in 2007 that he noticed the similarities between the 1994 hit and his song from 1980.”Somebody had a hit, a few years ago, using the first line, ‘Don’t go jumping waterfalls / Please stick to the lake…’ And then they go off into another song. It’s like, ‘Excuse me?'”