A federal judge recently dismissed the Chicago songwriter’s copyright lawsuit against Lady Gaga.
Songwriter Rebecca Francescatti filed the lawsuit against the pop superstar in the US District Court of Chicago back in 2011, as she accused Lady Gaga of copying parts of her 1998 song titled “Juda.” According to her allegations, the Lady Gaga’s rip off to her song was the chart topping artist’s 2011 song “Judas.”
Just this week Judge Marvin Aspen ruled that the two songs do not have any common lyrics. Besides not having the same lyrics, the judge said the songs have different themes and does not musically sound anything alike.
The judge’s conclusion shows that there wasn’t any legitimate evidence that Gaga heard Francescatti’s song before she published her popular song “Judas.”
The judge may have acknowledged that both songs’ 16th notes may have four near-similarities. However, that wasn’t substantial enough to prove that Gaga indeed copied the concept and the feel of Francescatti’s “Juda.”
Music copyright cases like these don’t usually win, since the judge is less likely to side with the party that claims to have been plagiarized.
Some of the popular songs that have faced copyright lawsuits in the past include, “Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty, and two other tracks produced by Rick Rubin. However, just because one note is not the same, the judge concludes that the plagiarism case is not worth pursuing.
Even the Marvin Gaye State thought of filing a lawsuit against the pop artist Robin Thicke for his song “Blurred Lines” but did not push through.
One example of a judge siding the artist who originally made the song was when George Harrison was made to pay $500,000 in fine to the Chiffons for stealing “He’s SO Fine” for his own “My Sweet Lord.”
