Plagiarism in Song

Plagiarism, the act of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own, could be seen between Chiffon's "He's So Fine" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord".  When listening to both songs, one can clearly see the parallel  in notes between them. Harrison declared that he "wasn't consciously aware of the similarity" when he was writing the song. He did, however, acknowledge that they sounded the same. He asks himself "Why didn't (he) realize?.. It would have been so easy to change a note here or there and not affect the feeling of the record." When it was all over, Harrison was found guilty and had to pay $1,599,987 for his crime.

Hutchinson, Lydia. "George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' Copyright Case".  performingsongwriter.com


Though never addressed on legal terms, Radiohead's "Karma Police" can be compared- and has been compared by listeners to The Beatles' "Sexy Sadie". The similarity can be heard directly in the melody, and is too similar to be a coincidence. It shocks me that no action has been taken over the matter. Radiohead has never commented on the parallel, so no one knows if the sound was intentional or not. Perhaps the case will be brought about in the future.