Britney Spears is at the center of controversy once again. Britney is being accused of ripping off lyrics for her new single, Hold It Against Me. Britney is said to have plagiarized the ballad If I said You Had Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me? by the Bellamy Brothers. The country singers claim that Britney's song is way too close to their own 1979 hit that topped the charts in six countries. Britney is not the first artist to be accused of copying music. From John Lennon in 1973 to Lady Gaga a few weeks ago, the list of alleged copy-cats is long. Here's a look at ten of the most famous cases of music plagiarism.
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WGMD in Delaware accused The Red Hot Chili Peppers for ripping off Tom Petty. “Dani California” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers was accused of having the same melody, tempo and lyrical theme as “Mary Jane’s Last Dane” by Tom Petty
ReutersColdplay has won seven Grammy Awards and sold more than 50 million albums worldwide.ReutersFacebook fans: 28,886,499
Twitter Followers: 8,397,686
YouTube Views: 1,198,712,174 ReutersThe song “Step Out” by Oasis was originally meant for the album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” The song was taken off the album after Stevie Wonder requested 10 percent of the royalties since the chorus was very similar to his hit “Uptight (Everything’s Alright).” The song was placed on the B-Side and Wonder, Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy received credit for writing the song along with Noel Gallagher. ReutersIn 1993 Nirvana was sued by Killing Joke who accused the band for copying the riff in “Come as You Are” from their song “Eighties.” The lawsuit was dropped after the sudden death of Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain. ReutersIn 1973 John Lennon’s song “Come Together” was accused by Big Seven Music Corp. for copying Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.” The music and the lyrics were both said to be very similar. The two settled out of court. Reuters1970s pop band Rubinoos accused Avril Lavigne for stealing one of their songs and reworking it into her hit single “Girlfriend.” ReutersJennifer Lopez debuted her new single “On The Floor” and people were quick to say the song sounded a lot like track by Kat DeLuna called “Party O’Clock.” On Lopez’s song, she sings: "Cuz London to Ibiza/Straight to L.A. New York/Vegas to Africa," while DeLuna croons: "Party in Ibiza, Party in New York/All the way to Africa/Love in the Caribbean/On my way to Vegas."ReutersUsher’s hit “OMG” was accused of stealing lyrics from a song that appeared on the television show “The Simpsons.” A video-mash up of the songs appeared on YouTube after the similarities were discovered and Usher received a lot of criticism. ReutersWhen George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” was first released it was followed by a lengthy legal battle as it was very similar to the song “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons. In the U.S. federal court decision Harrison was found to have “subconsciously” copied the song. Reuters
