Kid Rock has been named in a recent lawsuit, dealing with the name of his upcoming 2018 tour. What were some of the more interesting legal battles in the music industry?
John Fogerty sued his record company, choosing to give up some song rights to get out of the relationship. In one of the biggest suits, the members of Metallica sued music platform Napster. In April of 2000 the lawyers got together and settled, but Napster eventually went away.
Tom Petty’s “American Girl” seemed to sound too much like the band ‘Strokes’ “Last Night,” causing legal action. As it turned out, the Strokes actually took Tom’s open riffs, but Tom let it go without incident.
George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” was hauntingly similar to the Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine” which resulted in a loss for George.
Huey Lewis and the News was sued by Ray Parker Jr. “I Want a New Drug” vs. “Ghostbusters,’ while David Bowie and Queen got all over Vanilla Ice for his obvious theft in “Under Pressure,” vs. Ice Ice Baby.”
Finally, it was Tom Petty again for his “I Won’t Back Down” vs. Sam Smith “Stay With Me” battle that was interesting to follow.
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