HOLLYWOOD—Rick Springfield has been a songwriter for decades, the Australian American Grammy winning singer, songwriter, actor and writer, also known as Richard Lewis Springthorpe. He has written nearly all of his own material and to my knowledge has never had a copyright case.
He’s best known for his 1981 hit “Jessie’s Girl,” which won him a Grammy for Best Male Rock. Unlike so many artists that have been in and out of court fighting, Mariah Carey has been recently cleared of copyright infringement in a case over her 1994 Christmas staple, “All I Want For Christmas is You.” In the ruling last month, a judge rejected the allegations of songwriter Adam Stone, who released a song with the same name in 1989. He accused Carey of exploiting his popularity and style.
Mr. Stone who performs under the name Vince Vance, was claiming at least $20 million in damages. In the ruling, the Judge Almadani cited expert testimony saying the two songs simple shared Christmas song clichés that were common in several earlier hits. Judge Almadani ruled that Mr. Stone, and his lawyers should face sanctions for filing frivolous arguments. She actually ordered Mr. Stone and his lawyers to repay the legal bills Carey incurred in defending the case.
The case was originally filed in 2022, with Mr. Stone claiming Carey’s hit was copied from a song he had recorded under the name Vince Vance and the Valiants. In Carey’s 2020 memoir, Carey said she had composed most of the song on a cheap little Casio keyboard, while playing the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” for inspiration. Mr. Stone hoped to share in the song’s success. “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” earns $8.5 million every year. Judge Almadani ruled in favor of the motion to dismiss.
It was only last week that Dua Lipa won the dismissal of a lawsuit that accused her of copying her hit single ‘Levitating’ from two other songs. The star was sued in 2022 by songwriters L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, who accused her of plagiarizing their 1979 disco track Wiggle and Giggle All Night and 1980s Don Diablo. Judge Polk Failla ruled that the songs only had generic similarities, including non-copyrightable musical elements that had also previously been used by Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan, and the Bee Gees in their song “Stayin Alive.”
It is actually the second time Lipa has won a plagiarism case over “Levitating,” which was a global hit in 2020. She was previously sued by Florida reggae band Artikai Sound System, who claimed Lipa ripped off the chorus for her song from their 2015 track, “Live Your Life.” The case was dropped two years ago.
Lipa is still facing a third legal challenge over the song from musician Bosko Kante. He sued in 2023, saying his contribution had been used on remixes of the song without permission. Kante is seeking damages of at least $2 million plus interest, as well as profits from the remixes. The dismissal of the lawsuit was by coincidence, on the fifth anniversary of “Levitating” release.
Several famous songwriters have faced copyright infringement lawsuits, including George Harrison for “My Sweet Lord,” versus “He’s So Fine.” Harrison was found guilty of subconscious plagiarism of Ronnie Mack’s “He’s So Fine” for his song “My Sweet Lord,” and ordered to pay damages. Who could forget Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud,” lifted key elements of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”, but the jury ruled that Sheeran wasn’t liable for copyright infringement.
Queen and David Bowie sued Vanilla Ice or copyright infringement, claiming that the bass line in “Ice Ice Baby” was a direct copy of “Under Pressure.” The Rolling Stones sued The Verve for copyright infringement, claiming that “The Sound” was a rip-off of “The Sweetness.” The list goes on from Katy Perry, Sam Smith and many more.
Rose’s Scoop: Four stars will be starring in the Beatles film by Sir Sam Mendes. Paul Mescal will be portraying Sir Paul McCartney. Harris Dickinson will portray John Lennon, Barry Keoghan will portray Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn will portray George Harrison.
