# Lets sue because you play our songs better. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597 "2007-11-24T11:41:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/21 "2007-11-24T14:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] If you want them to be the same then you need to seek help. They are Not the saME.sORRY, TRY AGAIN. [/QUOTE] So then the crazies are Huey Lewis, Ray Parker Jr.'s lawyers who decided to settle rather than risk losing big in court, and everyone in this thread except you, right? Just checking. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/22 "2007-11-24T14:26:06Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] So then the crazies are Huey Lewis, Ray Parker Jr.'s lawyers who decided to settle rather than risk losing big in court, and everyone in this thread except you, right? Just checking. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I guess settling was the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/23 "2007-11-24T14:36:45Z")
Wow , twice I tried to respond and I got a time out. Okay, fuck all if Huey got a big pay off. I still say the two songs sound nothibng alike. They are both shit songs, we all agree. But they sound nothing alike. Please. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/24 "2007-11-24T14:48:12Z")
Once you get past the “spooky” sounds in Ray Parker’s tune, you have four bars of a bass riff that is _similar_ to the first four bars of IWAND (and Weird Al’s **I Want A New Duck** , for that matter) _but different enough_ to easily tell the two songs apart. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/25 "2007-11-24T15:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=anyrose] Once you get past the “spooky” sounds in Ray Parker’s tune, you have four bars of a bass riff that is _similar_ to the first four bars of IWAND (and Weird Al’s **I Want A New Duck** , for that matter) _but different enough_ to easily tell the two songs apart. [/QUOTE] Cite? ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/26 "2007-11-24T15:08:47Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Cite? [/QUOTE] from **neutron star** ’s post above: [Ghostbusters](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkKmKWOpzto). [I Want a New Drug](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_BVYgA-ZnM). close your eyes and lsiten to each one. You’ll hear the differences (Weird Al’s tune, except for the density of the orchestral back up, is identical to Huey Lewis’ - but then he had permission) ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/27 "2007-11-24T15:10:20Z")
The thing with ghostbusters/i want a new drug, my sweet lord/he’s so fine etc., is that they don’t “sound” alike to the average listener without a music background, but the chord progressions are the same, which isn’t always evident by listening, but by looking at the sheet music, or listening to the rhythm track only, which you can’t really hear on the radio. Or so I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/28 "2007-11-24T15:17:35Z")
continuing the hijack. . . It’s not so much that the melodies of IWAND and GB are alike, it’s the supporting chords, beat, and structure. I agree with you that the melodies aren’t very similar. Consider the Mona Lisa parodies. Have you seen the Mona Lisa parodied as a cat, dog, or numerous other entity? If you just consider the face in those parodies the pictures are nothing alike, but the supporting parts of the painting are what’s similar. on preview —what WeeBairn said ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/29 "2007-11-24T15:20:19Z")
I/m on dial up and cannot do you tubr material, but if you if you have audio material I will surely contemplate that. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/30 "2007-11-24T15:28:55Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] I/m on dial up and cannot do you tubr material, but if you if you have audio material I will surely contemplate that. [/QUOTE] [Here](http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/programs/2007/09/01/coincidence_rip_off_.html). It’s the last pair of songs on the page. Clearly, they’re different songs, however, there is a distinct similarity between them, too. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/31 "2007-11-24T15:37:22Z")
They sound similar enough to me, I haven’t heard the Huey Lewis song before, but as soon as it started I thought of ’ Ghostbusters’. The intro is similar, the bass line is virtually identical - and that includes the bass drum reinforcment of the bass guitar, the structure is very very similar, the bridge is the same except that the instruments are differant. Guilty as charged. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/32 "2007-11-24T15:46:40Z")
Okay , it still does not sound the same to me. Whatever. Good vibrations here in. Boo yah. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/33 "2007-11-24T15:49:52Z")
At the risk of derailing the hijack, I know that Tom Waits is absolutely vigilant about pursuing and litigating against anyone who adopts his vocal and musical style. I wonder if the Romantics would be quite so aggrieved if the song had come out on CD or .mp3\* instead of a game? This just seems to be an end run by Activision to avoid paying bigger royalties. \*For example, Todd Rundgren had half an LP (Faithful) that was a note-for-note replication of songs by other artists. It was a bit disconcerting to hear “Good Vibrations” on the radio and then find that it wasn’t the Beach Boys. However, I never heard of any legal problems. Most folks thought that it was just Todd being Todd. ETA: Okay, how weird is it that **Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** just said “Good Vibrations” while I was composing my post? ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/34 "2007-11-24T16:02:43Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] They sound similar enough to me, I haven’t heard the Huey Lewis song before, but as soon as it started I thought of ’ Ghostbusters’. The intro is similar, the bass line is virtually identical - and that includes the bass drum reinforcment of the bass guitar, the structure is very very similar, the bridge is the same except that the instruments are differant. Guilty as charged. [/QUOTE] A little anecdote… At the time all of this was going down, a few friends of mine in a local recording studio recorded a parody song called “Hit Stealers”. They were able to go back and forth between both songs effortlessly by using the same background tracks for both. It’s a shame I don’t still have a copy of their efforts. It made the similarities glaringly obvious. They are way too close for comfort. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/35 "2007-11-24T16:06:33Z")
[QUOTE=F. U. Shakespeare] A few years ago, some car company approached Bette Midler about using one of her songs in an ad. When she declined, they hired an imitator who was so good, Midler thought it was her own voice when she first heard the ad. So she sued the company. I’ve always wondered about the legalities of that. I know that you can copyright trademarks, but can celebrities really sue people who sound (or look) like they do? [/QUOTE] and [QUOTE=Plynck] At the risk of derailing the hijack, I know that Tom Waits is absolutely vigilant about pursuing and litigating against anyone who adopts his vocal and musical style. [/QUOTE] Yep, Tom Waits is the first person i thought of when i read **F.U. Shakespeare** ’s question. Waits sued Frito Lay, and won over $2 million, back in 1991 for using a likeness of his voice singing a song similar to one of his in one of their ads. You can read the Ninth Circuit opinion on the appeal [here](http://markroesler.com/pdf/caselaw/Waits%20v.%20Frito-Lay%20Inc.%20_1992_.pdf) (pdf). This case makes quite a few references to the Midler case. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/36 "2007-11-24T16:17:50Z")
Who in the world has time to make a Thomas the Tank Engine video for _Ghostbusters_? 😕😛 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/37 "2007-11-24T16:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] Okay , it still does not sound the same to me. Whatever. [/QUOTE] Well, your first post in this thread was praise for Celine Dion, so it’s possible that you’re tone deaf. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/38 "2007-11-24T16:41:32Z")
Well let’s say that anyoe who could prefer Celine Dions version of ‘I drove all night’ as the best version, instead of the Roy Orbison one has to be gulity of something. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/39 "2007-11-24T16:41:35Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] I wonder if the Romantics would be quite so aggrieved if the song had come out on CD or .mp3\* instead of a game? This just seems to be an end run by Activision to avoid paying bigger royalties. [/QUOTE] How do you figure? **Activision:** We’d like to use the master track for “What I Like About You” **Romantics:** No, we want more money than you’re willing to offer. **Activision:** Can we make a cover? **Romantics:** Yes Someone also forgot to tell The Romantics that Guitar Hero leads to increased album sales: [http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071121-your-song-in-guitar-hero-equals-a-big-jump-in-digital-sales.html](http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071121-your-song-in-guitar-hero-equals-a-big-jump-in-digital-sales.html) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597/40 "2007-11-24T17:03:19Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] The thing with ghostbusters/i want a new drug, my sweet lord/he’s so fine etc., is that **they don’t “sound” alike to the average listener without a music background** , but the chord progressions are the same, which isn’t always evident by listening, but by looking at the sheet music, or listening to the rhythm track only, which you can’t really hear on the radio. Or so I’m told. [/QUOTE] I am a musician, and often notice small similarities between songs . (This was VERY common with Oasis: it was like they wrote songs by putting the Beatles in a blender). Other musicians invariably concur with me on these similarities, but non-musician friends think we’re hearing things. I’m guessing you’re not a musician, Abby? [QUOTE=Plynck] At the risk of derailing the hijack, I know that Tom Waits is absolutely vigilant about pursuing and litigating against anyone who adopts his vocal and musical style. [/QUOTE] Gee, maybe if Howlin’ Wolf (or some other equally influential blues singer) were still alive, Waits could sue him for copying his style before Waits was born. [QUOTE=Plynck] \*For example, Todd Rundgren had half an LP (Faithful) that was a note-for-note replication of songs by other artists. It was a bit disconcerting to hear “Good Vibrations” on the radio and then find that it wasn’t the Beach Boys. However, I never heard of any legal problems. Most folks thought that it was just Todd being Todd. [/QUOTE] Late-70s Pittsburgh-area rock band Crack the Sky did a spot-on version of “I Am the Walrus” (which they actually pulled off live!) and I don’t remember any legal woes. I suspect the depth of pockets plays a role in decisions to sue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-sue-because-you-play-our-songs-better/427597.md?page=3)