I just heard the song “Life is a Rock” on an oldies station. It sounds just like Savage Garden’s “I Want You.”
How did Savage Garden get away with this?
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Because they haven’t been sued yet (it took years for the dust to settle after George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord”);
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Because the people who own the rights to the old Reunion song don’t think they can make a case;
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No one listens to Savage Garden, so no one really cares.
My best guess is #2
I once read about how the guy from Wild Cherry who wrote and still owns the rights to “Play That Funky Music” was told by a friend months after the release of the Vanilla Ice album that VI appropriated that song on the album and had not given him songwriting credit. I have heard this about other artists, too, that they weren’t aware of such songs and of course could only sue once they were made aware- I’m looking at you, Jimmy Page.
Some cases are open and shut, others not- The Italian song that Wacko Jacko copied for “Will You Be Mine” (?) seemed pretty open and shut once I heard the original, but the guy somehow lost the case.
The two songs don’t really sound that much alike. The only thing they have in common is the stream-of-speech style lyrics. Others songs like that are Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire and REM’s End Of The World As We Know It.
Wee Bairn - are you referring to Jimmy Page’s outright theft of Spirit’s song Taurus which was used in Stairway To Heaven?
Thanks. I’ve had “I Want You” in my head all day. 
Exactly this one in particular. This page lists some of Page’s more egregious appropriations, but for me, Taurus is the most blatant. The fact they were on tour with Spirit at the time Taurus came out pretty much eliminates any doubt, not that there could be any doubt- they’re indentical! Stairway to Heaven also cops from “And She’s Lonely” by Chocolate Watchband, but slightly less obviously.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Page and Zep, but they really should’ve credited their sources- some were their friends even. And don’t think just anyone could take the original “When the Levee Breaks” and turn it into a masterpiece.
Do you know why Sprit (Jay Andes I guess?) never sued for royalties?
among other things… see here, for instance
Mind you, I’ve never really cared, I just like the songs the way they’re performed by Led Zeppelin. In most cases the original artists wound up getting their recognition anyway (albeit usually via lawsuits). But to claim that they stole only once or twice would a major understatement.
I don’t get it, either. I know both of these songs (my mom listened to Life Is A Rock frequently and I was a SG fan), and I wouldn’t have ever thought one was a rip-off of the other. The music’s not similar, the lyrics are completely different… so beyond the fact that they’re kind of sort of stylistically similar, what’s there to call a ripoff? If you could call foul over someone making a song in a similar style The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean would have spent as much time in the court room as the recording studio.
Ive just listened to Life is a Rock over on youtube… like Argent Towers said, the two songs dont actually sound alike, they just have a similar style. Theres hardly anything to get away with.
I listen to Savage Garden sometimes. And given the success that the singer (Darren Hayes) has had in the recent past, I know Im not alone.