For blog-work this week, research and listen to some examples of musical plagiarism. Identify: 1) the definition of plagiarism 2) at least one example of a truly plagiarized song (paragraph explanation) and 3) at least one example of a coincidental relationship between 2 songs(paragraph explanation). Discuss your findings here. In the spirit of avoiding plagiarism and associated transgressions, you must cite (MLA format) at least 3 sources for each argument. Citations will also allow you to incorporate periodicals and other resources that may offer some direct evidence to support your claims. On the left side of this blog, you will find some of the many useful citation tools available to you. Some notable instances include (listed as original/supposed plagiarism): Chiffon's "He's So Fine"/George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"; Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance"/The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California"; Queen's "Under Pressure"/Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby" , Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly"/Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" and, most recently, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"/The Black Keys' "Little Black Submarines". Tyler Robidoux found an interesting one, so feel free to consult him as well. You are not limited to these examples, so feel free to find your own.
24 comments:
Meredith Davern
1) Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author/artist. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
2) Mary Jane’s Last Dance by Tom Petty and Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers sound very similar. The lyrics are not the same, but the style of music, down beat, and guitar riffs are all too close to be coincidence. The first time I heard Tom Petty’s song I thought that it was The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Vanilla Ice took the beginning beat from Under Pressure by Queen, and used to all throughout his song Ice Ice Baby. Avril Levine in her song Girlfriend seems to take an idea by The Rubinoos in their song I wanna be your boyfriend. There is no confusing the beat, but artists are taking older songs, and younger generations think that it is new music, but they are just recycled ideas.
3) It is hard to say if coincidence occurs, but I believe that it occurred between Viva La Vida by Coldplay and Joe Satriani’s If I could Fly. Viva La Vida has a modern sound, and differentiates between parts, but If I Could Fly is just a similar guitar riff the whole song. There is not enough evidence to prove plagiarism. Coldplay also has been accused of stealing ideas from Cat Steven’s song Foreigner’s Suite, which is also similar to Viva La Vida. Both songs have a similar beat, but they are not close enough to prove anything. It is hard to say who is stealing and what are just great minds thinking alike.
Plagiarism- (noun) the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author
http://dictionary.reference.com/
An example of a truly plagiarized song is Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice, Baby” from Queen’s “Under Pressure”. Vanilla Ice uses the exact same rhythm guitar and piano as Queen does. The only part changed was the slightly altered bass line, which is almost unnoticeable. It was so clear that Vanilla Ice was lying in saying he did not plagiarize, that this was not brought to court. Instead, the two figured out the compensation on their own and “Ice, Ice, Baby” was made into different versions.
An example of an accidental plagiarism is of John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival. John Fogerty was the original singer of CCR but wanted to go do a solo career. In order to do this he had to sign away any royalties in CCR’s name. Therefore, when he released his song, “Zanz Can’t Dance”, he was brought to court for copying his own song, “Run Through the Jungle”. But the jury decided the songs were not the same after Fogerty brought in his guitar and played the two songs. They were ruled the same style, as they were both his work, and not plagiarism.
http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-infringment.html
Jackie Toomey
12/14/11
Poetry of Song G
Plagiarism
1.) The definition of Plagiarism, according to the Encarta Dictionary, is the process of copying another person's idea or written work and claiming it as original.
2.) It is widely known throughout the musical industry that The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song “Dani California” sounds eerily like “Last Dance with Mary Jane”, which was previously written by Tom Petty. There are multiple forms of similarities present within both songs, but the most prominent of all would be the guitar. After listening to the audio clips from each song, the pattern of notes repeats itself in a very noticeable manner, which is why it is said that the Peppers so blatantly copied Tom Petty’s music. Also a noticeable similarity between the two songs that can be found would be the way in which they describe the child’s parents, which are not always around when she grows up in a rural country town.
3.) Despite the alleged plagiarism, I do not think that George Harrison copied in any way the Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”. There is not an overwhelming supply of occurrences that lead one to believe there was any plagiarism. It is simply coincidental that the notes sound somewhat alike. They are not copied note for note, and the lyrics may be similar, but not enough to file a lawsuit or go after George Harrison for plagiarizing their song. Another reason this song is not something I would consider to be plagiarized may be the fact that the music overwhelms me a bit, and I cannot really focus on the Chiffon’s version of the song, so maybe there is some form of plagiarism that I am missing.
Jackie Toomey
12/14/11
Poetry of Song G
Plagiarism
1.) The definition of Plagiarism, according to the Encarta Dictionary, is the process of copying another person's idea or written work and claiming it as original.
2.) It is widely known throughout the musical industry that The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song “Dani California” sounds eerily like “Last Dance with Mary Jane”, which was previously written by Tom Petty. There are multiple forms of similarities present within both songs, but the most prominent of all would be the guitar. After listening to the audio clips from each song, the pattern of notes repeats itself in a very noticeable manner, which is why it is said that the Peppers so blatantly copied Tom Petty’s music. Also a noticeable similarity between the two songs that can be found would be the way in which they describe the child’s parents, which are not always around when she grows up in a rural country town.
3.) Despite the alleged plagiarism, I do not think that George Harrison copied in any way the Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”. There is not an overwhelming supply of occurrences that lead one to believe there was any plagiarism. It is simply coincidental that the notes sound somewhat alike. They are not copied note for note, and the lyrics may be similar, but not enough to file a lawsuit or go after George Harrison for plagiarizing their song. Another reason this song is not something I would consider to be plagiarized may be the fact that the music overwhelms me a bit, and I cannot really focus on the Chiffon’s version of the song, so maybe there is some form of plagiarism that I am missing.
1.) Musical Plagiarism- is the use or close imitation of another author's music while representing it as one's own original work. It occurs in two contexts, with a musical idea (melody, chords, lyrics, etc.) or with sampling which is taking a portion of a sound or recording and reusing it in a different song as your own. –Wikipedia.org
2.) A notorious case of musical plagiarism is rap artist “Vanilla Ice” sampling the famous bass line in Queen’s “Under Pressure and using it in his hit single “Ice Ice Baby”. Known as one of the most easily recognizable bass riffs ever, Queen’s “Under Pressure” was released in 1981 long before Vanilla Ice’s song which was released in 1990. The young rapper simply slowed down the bass part, hoping that he could get away with his theft. Ice’s song hit it big with the public audience and it was not long before people noticed the obvious parallel between the two songs. The situation was settled later on, and the members of Queen received credit and acknowledgement for “Ice Ice Baby”, but it was not until the song had been released and recognized, making it a famous plagiarism case.
3.) It is extremely hard to accuse artists of copying other artists work because of the limited number of notes and chord structures that can be used. Many songs have the same chords, just mixed in a different order, or the same rhyme scheme. Some songs even have the same lyrics in some parts, but these scenarios are hardly ever accused of plagiarism. This leaves a great number of songs that could possibly be described as plagiarism, when it’s really just an unoriginal idea, used over and over again. An example of this is the similar Chord progressions in the songs “Wonderwall” by Oasis and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Greenday. The vocalist for Oasis, Noel Gallagher, accused Greenday publically of “ripping off” his song Wonderwall. In my opinion, Gallagher is simply reading too deep into the similarities. In fact, the worldly popular band U2, uses the same chords in their song “Electrical Storm”. The reality that Gallagher failed to realize is that in order to create a popular song, an artist is restricted to a limited amount of chords. An Australian comedy act, “Axis of Awesome”, even touched upon the idea in their song “The 4 chord song” which mashes 36 popular songs that all use the same basic chord progression. These songs are all recognized as their own pieces of art, they’re just similar in the structure. Gallagher’s accusation wasn’t taken seriously; instead it was made into a mash up song called “Boulevard of Broken Songs”.
Colin Feeney
12/13/11
Class-G
Plagiarism
1.) Plagiarism- the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author.
2.) In 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came out with the hit “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. This was a really great song and then later on another song came out that sounded just like it, some say. The newer song that came out was “Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When this song came out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sued the Red Hot Chili Peppers because they thought that they stole their beat and cords of the way they played the song. When I listened to this song I thought they sounded pretty similar.
3.) When I was searching for plagiarism with two songs I found an example that I thought was considered as plagiarism. The song American Girl by Tom Petty came out first. Then the song “Last Night” by The Strokes stole the beat to their song and was found guilty of it. If you listen to the two songs closely you can figure it out. When I listened to it I could kind of tell but I didn’t think it was that close enough to be charged of plagiarism. But somehow they were found guilty The Strokes were fined.
1.) Musical Plagiarism- is the use or close imitation of another author's music while representing it as one's own original work. It occurs in two contexts, with a musical idea (melody, chords, lyrics, etc.) or with sampling which is taking a portion of a sound or recording and reusing it in a different song as your own. –Wikipedia.org
2.) A notorious case of musical plagiarism is rap artist “Vanilla Ice” sampling the famous bass line in Queen’s “Under Pressure and using it in his hit single “Ice Ice Baby”. Known as one of the most easily recognizable bass riffs ever, Queen’s “Under Pressure” was released in 1981 long before Vanilla Ice’s song which was released in 1990. The young rapper simply slowed down the bass part, hoping that he could get away with his theft. Ice’s song hit it big with the public audience and it was not long before people noticed the obvious parallel between the two songs. The situation was settled later on, and the members of Queen received credit and acknowledgement for “Ice Ice Baby”, but it was not until the song had been released and recognized, making it a famous plagiarism case.
3.) It is extremely hard to accuse artists of copying other artists work because of the limited number of notes and chord structures that can be used. Many songs have the same chords, just mixed in a different order, or the same rhyme scheme. Some songs even have the same lyrics in some parts, but these scenarios are hardly ever accused of plagiarism. This leaves a great number of songs that could possibly be described as plagiarism, when it’s really just an unoriginal idea, used over and over again. An example of this is the similar Chord progressions in the songs “Wonderwall” by Oasis and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Greenday. The vocalist for Oasis, Noel Gallagher, accused Greenday publically of “ripping off” his song Wonderwall. In my opinion, Gallagher is simply reading too deep into the similarities. In fact, the worldly popular band U2, uses the same chords in their song “Electrical Storm”. The reality that Gallagher failed to realize is that in order to create a popular song, an artist is restricted to a limited amount of chords. An Australian comedy act, “Axis of Awesome”, even touched upon the idea in their song “The 4 chord song” which mashes 36 popular songs that all use the same basic chord progression. These songs are all recognized as their own pieces of art, they’re just similar in the structure. Gallagher’s accusation wasn’t taken seriously; instead it was made into a mash up song called “Boulevard of Broken Songs”.
Colin Feeney
12/13/11
Class-G
Plagiarism
1.) Plagiarism- the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author.
2.) In 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers came out with the hit “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”. This was a really great song and then later on another song came out that sounded just like it, some say. The newer song that came out was “Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When this song came out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sued the Red Hot Chili Peppers because they thought that they stole their beat and cords of the way they played the song. When I listened to this song I thought they sounded pretty similar.
3.) When I was searching for plagiarism with two songs I found an example that I thought was considered as plagiarism. The song American Girl by Tom Petty came out first. Then the song “Last Night” by The Strokes stole the beat to their song and was found guilty of it. If you listen to the two songs closely you can figure it out. When I listened to it I could kind of tell but I didn’t think it was that close enough to be charged of plagiarism. But somehow they were found guilty The Strokes were fined.
Definition:
Plagiarism is when someone takes another’s work or ideas and saying they are their own (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=plagiarism).
Plagiarism:
David Bowie’s and Queen’s “Under Pressure” was plagiarized by Vanilla Ice in “Ice Ice Baby”. The repetitive riff throughout both songs is nearly the same. Vanilla Ice added three short beats to slightly change Queen’s riff. Listeners would have a very hard time discerning the two songs if only instrumentals were played. Vanilla Ice used the riff without consent or license from its creators. No royalties were given to Queen and David Bowie until after “Ice Ice Baby” had become a hit. The case never went to trial, but it is said that a settlement was made out of court. “Under Pressure” was released in 1982, and eight years later, the riff was topping the charts in “Ice Ice Baby”. Other versions of this song have been released by Vanilla Ice, all legal procedures completed.
Sources:
http://www.benedict.com/Audio/Vanilla/Vanilla.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Ice_Baby
http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-infringment.html
Coincidence:
Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” is not plagiarism of Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly”. It is a mere coincidence. It may have been an accidental plagiarism at most, but it is doubtful that it was on purpose. Satriani’s song was only guitar, without any vocals. Coldplay uses vocals which coincide with portions of Satriani’s song, however the verses of “Viva La Vida” are completely different. The trial went to court in 2008 but was dropped on September 14, 2009 after a settlement was made. Even if they did take the melody, Satriani used it for a guitar solo, whereas Coldplay set lyrics to it and made it their own. On one website, an article explains all of the differences in melody, harmony, rhythm. First off, the songs are not in the same key. “If I Could Fly” is in B minor while “Viva La Vida” is in A flat Major. The rhythms of the songs differ in that Satriani’s includes no rests and many eighth notes. “Viva La Vida” includes a pick-up note as well as two eighth rests. It is much simpler than Satriani’s guitar's melody. These songs differ greatly so Coldplay did not plagiarize.
Sources:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/coldplay-and-joe-satriani-settle-lawsuit-220134
http://www.creativeguitarstudio.com/satch_coldplay/music_theory.php
~Corina Jurczyk
Plagiarism is the use of another’s work without proper credit being given to the original creator of the work. One very strong example of plagiarism is the song “Huey Newton” by Wiz Khalifa, in the fact that he used the instrumentals from “Africa” by Toto without properly citing the source of the instrumentals they used. One could argue that this was an innocent case of sampling, but in most cases of sampling there are slight alterations made to the sampled piece, but in this instance the instrumentals were completely untouched, which leads me to believe that this was in fact plagiarism. The song by Wiz Khalifa has gained popularity to the point that people who were previously unaware of the song by Toto have been led to believe that the instrumentals are original to Wiz Khalifa because of the lack of proper citing.
In some cases the similarities between two songs can be merely a coincidence. A coincidental similarity can be found between “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind and “Two Princes” by Spin Doctors. The intros in each song match up almost perfectly, even the drums in the first few seconds are strikingly similar. But the chords used are so simple that one could argue that it was only a matter of time before someone used the same melody. Another bit of evidence that could lead one away from believing that this is a case of plagiarism is the fact that the vocal cadences in each song are extremely different. The vocals in Spin Doctor’s “Two Princes is very choppy and doesn’t have the same fluidity that is present in Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life”.
The definition of plagiarism is unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work for example vinilla ice ice baby by jon Satriani's v.s Coldplay's "Viva La Vida". Have the same melody but different beginnings
Chiffon's "He's So Fine"/George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord"; Tom Petty's are similar in tune so they sound the same in everything but chours
The definition of plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the original author. In his song “Ice Ice Baby” Vanilla Ice plagiarized the song “Under Pressure” by Queen. The two songs are uncannily similar in tune and rhythm. Vanilla Ice purposely sampled the riffs from Queen’s song “Under Pressure” for his one-hit-wonder. This was proved to be true because Vanilla Ice apologized for his actions in a later interview. A coincidental relationship between two songs would be how people said that “Viva La Vida” took their vocals from Joe Satriani’s guitar song “If I Could Fly”. This is a coincidence because Coldplay’s lead admitted to owning and liking “If I Could Fly”, but he also said that he believed it was his subconscious mind that was playing the tune in his head.
Amy Pereira
1. “The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author” ( from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
2. A case of one band polarizing another is Queens “Under Pressure” and Vanilla Ices’ “Ice Ice Baby”. After reviewing the songs I have found that the instrumental part of “ Ice Ice Baby” is copying “ Under Pressure almost exactly.
3. A song that was accused of plagiarism is “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay. Coldplay was sued by Joe Satriani for plagiarizing his song “If I could Fly”. After reviewing the songs multiple times I have found that Coldplay was not did not plagiarize “If I Could Fly”. The songs may have slightly the same sound to them but it just isn’t close enough. I believe that Satriani simply wanted money. Coldplay’s’ Viva La Vida became a huge hit making thousands of dollars, which is why Satriani wanted to sue them.
1. “The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author” ( from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
2. A case of one band polarizing another is Queens “Under Pressure” and Vanilla Ices’ “Ice Ice Baby”. After reviewing the songs I have found that the instrumental part of “ Ice Ice Baby” is copying “ Under Pressure almost exactly.
3. A song that was accused of plagiarism is “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay. Coldplay was sued by Joe Satriani for plagiarizing his song “If I could Fly”. After reviewing the songs multiple times I have found that Coldplay was not did not plagiarize “If I Could Fly”. The songs may have slightly the same sound to them but it just isn’t close enough. I believe that Satriani simply wanted money. Coldplay’s’ Viva La Vida became a huge hit making thousands of dollars, which is why Satriani wanted to sue them.
1. “The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author” ( from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
2. A case of one band polarizing another is Queens “Under Pressure” and Vanilla Ices’ “Ice Ice Baby”. After reviewing the songs I have found that the instrumental part of “ Ice Ice Baby” is copying “ Under Pressure almost exactly.
3. A song that was accused of plagiarism is “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay. Coldplay was sued by Joe Satriani for plagiarizing his song “If I could Fly”. After reviewing the songs multiple times I have found that Coldplay was not did not plagiarize “If I Could Fly”. The songs may have slightly the same sound to them but it just isn’t close enough. I believe that Satriani simply wanted money. Coldplay’s’ Viva La Vida became a huge hit making thousands of dollars, which is why Satriani wanted to sue them.
1. “The unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author” ( from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)
2. A case of one band polarizing another is Queens “Under Pressure” and Vanilla Ices’ “Ice Ice Baby”. After reviewing the songs I have found that the instrumental part of “ Ice Ice Baby” is copying “ Under Pressure almost exactly.
3. A song that was accused of plagiarism is “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay. Coldplay was sued by Joe Satriani for plagiarizing his song “If I could Fly”. After reviewing the songs multiple times I have found that Coldplay was not did not plagiarize “If I Could Fly”. The songs may have slightly the same sound to them but it just isn’t close enough. I believe that Satriani simply wanted money. Coldplay’s’ Viva La Vida became a huge hit making thousands of dollars, which is why Satriani wanted to sue them.
Krista Woodworth
12/14/11
Block G
1.) Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own. (www.grammarly.com/Plagiarism_Check)
2.)
Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly” is extremely similar to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”. Coldplay was accused on December 4, 2008 for plagiarizing Joe Satriani’s 2004 track. Coldplay was then sued for the plagiarizing law that they did not follow. If you listen to the two songs one after another you will notice how similar the beats of the songs sound. The hook to “viva” is when you can tell how similar the song actually is to “If I Could Fly”.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/joe-satriani-sues-coldplay-for-viva-la-vida-plagiarism-20081205
3.)
Queen's "Under Pressure" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby sound very alike. However it is not plagiarizing it was just a coincidence. It was thought for many years that this was a case of plagiarism. After 5 years of consideration it was said that it was not plagiarized. The case was brought to court and the judge believed that George Harrison did not purposely plagiarize the song.
http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-infringment.html
Plagiarism is when a person takes someone else’s work, word for word, and claims it to be one’s own work. There have been many bands who have sued other bands because they stole or plagiarized parts of their song. One example of this is when Joe Satriani sued Coldplay’s Grammy-nominated hit “Viva La Vida” It has been said that the hook on “Viva la Vida” is very close to the guitar solo in the song by Joe Satriani “if I could fly” When Satriani heard the news he "felt like a dagger went right through my heart.”
George Harrison had indeed plagiarized Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine” During trial, it was clear that Harrison had copied most parts of Chiffons musical phrases. Experts agree with the judge that this is a highly unusual pattern that he had copied. The original song was not changed enough to not be called plagiarized.
- Kathy Remick
1. Plagiarism the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author. (dictionary.com)
2. One true example of plagiarism is the case against Avril Lavigne and The Rubinoos. Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer won their case against Avril Lavigne. They claimed that their song, “I wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was stolen and she used it in her best-selling single “Girlfriend” The similarities in my opinion are too close to be coincidence. The Chorus’ on both songs are almost identical. The drum line on Avril Lavigne has a high hat added that is more noticeable in her song; but other than that the drum lines are copied. The main rhythm of the guitar is more distorted in Lavigne’s but still the rhythm is stolen. The lyric in the chorus are exact except the word “boyfriend” has been replaced by “girlfriend.” In the background of BOTH songs have people clapping to a beat; and the clapping is the same! Avril Lavigne did plagiarize the Rubinoos; but unsuccessfully as the Rubinoos won the case.
Work cited
(dictionary.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks4joFXut6A
wikipedia
Anthony B.
Jacqueline Carpino 12/13/11
Poetry of song
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is to steal and pass of the ideas of someone else as your own without permission or crediting the source. An example of a coincidental plagiarized song is Chuck Berry's “You cant catch me” and John Lennon's “Come Together”. I have heard “Come together” many times and never knew that he was sued by Morris Levy, Chuck Berry's music publisher, for it sounding to much like his own song. I believe that someone as legendary as John Lennon would not have to copy someone's work. If he copied it intentionally it would probably ruin his reputation as an artist. He would not get as much respect as he does today. He has written so many amazing hits that it would be hard for me to imagine him plagiarizing. Even though they won the law suit I still thing it was a coincident that the songs sounded alike.
An example of plagiarism that I believe to be intentional is “ice ice baby” for copying “under pressure by Queen and David Bowie. The beginning sounds to similar for me to think it was a coincidence. I don't think he wanted to steal it from them just to steal it. I think he might have heard it and thought it would sound good with the song he was writing. He was probably stuck on what the tune should be and thought that would be perfect. This is a very popular case of plagiarism because he was sued for this. This song seems a little to close to the original for me,which is why I think it was intentional. Unlike the John Lennon case I think this was a more serious case.
http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html
Literary theft. Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer's language or ideas and then calls the work his or her own. Copyright laws protect writers' words as their legal property. To avoid the charge of plagiarism, writers take care to credit those from whom they borrow and quote.
1621, from L. plagiarius "kidnapper, seducer, plunderer," used in the sense of "literary thief"
by Martial, from plagium "kidnapping," from plaga "snare, net," from PIE base *p(e)lag- "flat, spread out." Plagiary is attested from 1597.
Ironic that I am plagiarizing in order to do this assignment
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism
“Ghostbusters theme” by ray parker junior plagiarized the melody exactly of the song “I want a new drug” by huey lewis.He also ripped off the Keyboard part on the downbeat in the song, as well as the rhythems in the guitar part of the song.Huey lewis was originally asked to write the ghostbusters theme but chose to work on Back to the future insteadLewis Sued and was awarded 1.2 million dollars in royalties for being ripped off. This was so blatent it is almost comical, especially when they were both asked to work on the some project.
http://soundsjustlike.com/green-days-waiting-sounds-like-petula-clarks-downtown/
1) Plagiarism: Definition
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, plagiarism is the stealing and passing off of another’s work as one’s own.
2) Plagiarism: Intentional
In one of the most infamous musical legal wranglings of the 1990s, British alt-rockers The Verve found themselves under fire for their massively popular single “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, which ABKCO Records (who owned the rights to the Rolling Stones’ ‘60s catalogue) felt was too close Andrew Loog Oldham’s orchestral version of the Stones’ “The Last Time”. While the Verve had been given permission to use a sample of the song, ABKCO argued that they had used too much (indeed, the famous orchestral loop the two had in common) was the most prevalent part of the song, and ended up winning the suit, getting 100% of the royalties, and forcing the group to give Keith Richards and Mick Jagger songwriting credits.
3) Plagiarism: Accidental
Familiar to plagiarism-related controversy already, Oasis nevertheless managed to find themselves accused of stealing a song they didn’t even know existed. When Rutles bandleader and longtime Monty Python collaborator Neil Innes decided that their 1994 single “Whatever” bore a too-similar resemblance to his own “How Sweet to Be an Idiot” - the respective opening lines "I'm free to do whatever I..." and "How sweet to be an idiot", specifically, as they were sung to the same tune and with similar cadence - he took legal action, eventually ending up with a portion of the royalties. How do we know that the resemblance was probably unintentional? Oasis lyricist Noel Gallagher came out and said that he’d never heard the original before, which, given his brutal, sometimes impractical honesty on everything else - including how willingly he owned up to the alleged plagiarism in “Shakermaker”, “Hello”, and especially “Step Out” - seems to suggest that he’s telling the truth. Well, that, and the two songs only have a small fistful of notes in common.
Plagiarism is the intentional copying or similar replication of another’s work without giving proper credits to the original owner.
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” is a song by Tom Petty which was popular in the 1990s. ‘Dani California” was also a popular song coming years later in 2006 by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were accused of plagiarizing “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” because of their songs extremely similar melody and sound. First to publicly recognize the similarities was radio show host Dan Gaffney, who said “The chord progression, the melody, the tempo, the key, the lyrical theme” of the two songs were almost identical. The Red Hot Chili Peppers did not get sued because of Petty’s good nature about it, as he said to the rolling Stone “a lot of RocknRoll songs sound alike….It doesn’t bother me”.
Though George Harrison was found guilty in the law suit against Chiffon I believe it was more of accidental similarities between “My Sweet Lord” and He’s so Fine”. The songs do sound similar but there is nothing sounding to me very distinctly similar between the songs. Even the court ruled the plagiarism as “subconscious” and not intentional. Though the songs sound coincidentally similar, I don’t not believe George Harrison’s “My Sweet Love” was intentionally plagiarizing Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”.
1)1)Plagiarism noun: The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.
2) Vanilla Ice’s song “Ice Ice Baby” is notorious known for its plagiarizing of “Under Pressure” by Queen. Queen’s opening instrumental to their song is used as the main beat for “Ice Ice Baby” with a slight change to the bass line. This shows that Vanilla Ice stole Queen’s work to create his own unoriginal song. This is considered plagiarism because Vanilla Ice is leading people to believe that the beat of his song was made by himself.
3) Some songs can be mistaken for plagiarizing due to similar sounds and rhyme schemes. Oasis’ accused Green Day of plagiarizing their song “Wonderwall” in “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” I think that this is just a coincidence because there is not complete relation between any part in each song that is so strongly profound that it should be considered stolen. There was also a song by U2 that used the same chords Green Day supposedly plagiarized. Due to the clear evidence, chords and beats are limited and there will be coincidental occurrences where songs may sounds alike.
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