My brothers been complaining for a while that the Today Show here is totally ripping off a Boo Radleys Song. He decided to do something and has contacted the guy who wrote the song, who is a little pissed off. He asked me to get a copy somehow for proof, and lo and behold, youtube provides:
The kicker is the Today Show apparently contacted the guy a while ago, and he refused to let them use the song. Does changing a word or two make it OK? What do you think is likely to come of this?
Before I clicked the links, I was already thinking, “I bet somebody nicked ‘Wake Up, Boo.’”
It’s a shame when an artist declines licensing, so the company just rips them off, like with the recent LG Washer commercial nicking Jens Lekman’s A sweet summer’s night on hammer hill.
Tom Waits successfully sued a car company for using a song similar to his performed in a similar style after he refused to give permission for the actual songs use in an ad. In fact I believe he’s won several similar lawsuits, so I’d say the Boo guy has a case if he wants to pursue.
There was also the lawsuit by Huey Lewis against Ray Parker regarding the theme from the movie “Ghostbusters.” Lewis was asked to write a theme song, but declined due to his work on music for “Back To The Future.” Parker wrote a theme which sounded suspiciously like “I Want A New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News. Lewis sued for plagiarism and won a settlement in 1995. Lewis was himself sued by Parker in 2001 for breaking a confidentiality agreement by revealing on an episode of “Behind The Music” that Parker had paid him cash to settle the suit.
