Music Trivia -> Song Lawsuits -> B
Songs that have resulted in lawsuits, either for lyrics or for borrowing too much of the music.
"Band Name," Styx
Dennis DeYoung took Tommy Shaw and James Young to court over ownership of the band name Styx when the band split up. Tommy and James won. Dennis could use the name only if it said "Dennis DeYoung and the music of Styx."
Dan Gould
"The Band's Legal Woes," Triumph
In a Much More Music interview Rik Emmet recalls that all of the members of Triumph had lawyers involved in settling the hash about who owned the rights to what Triumph songs? The interview ended with Rik commenting that he "wished that Triumph hadn't ended on such a bad note of having to get lawyers involved in settling their differences."
Celeste
"Barbie Girl," Aqua
The lyrics of the song are about Barbie and Ken, the dolls made by Mattel. Both the song and its music video feature Lene Nystrom as Barbie and Rene Dif as Ken. As such, the lyrics drew the ire of Barbie's corporate owners. Mattel stated in their lawsuit that the band depicted Barbie as a sex object, although Judge Alex Kozinski ruled the song was protected as a parody under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
LPG-Unit
"Barbie Girl," Aqua
Mattel, the company behind Barbie, sued the pop group for their allegedly unauthorised use of the doll line in "Barbie Girl", claiming that the band depicted Barbie as a "blonde bimbo", or a sex object. It was then dismissed on the grounds that the song was protected as a parody under nominative use doctrines and First Amendment rights.
LPG-Unit
"Bittersweet Symphony," The Verve
The string intro was sampled by an orchestrated version of The Rolling Stones "The Last Time". When the song was released, The Rolling Stones Record Company filed a suit against The Verve and told them that they sampled 'too much' of the song. And as a result, the song was credited as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Paul Warren
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