About Music Plagiarism
There are only so many notes and words to choose from in composing a new song. Some people choose to deliberately steal from other songs, while others do it subconsciously. Either way, the party is guilty of music plagiarism and the actual crime of copyright infringement.
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Copyright Law
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Copyright is granted to the owner of a piece of music, whether it be the original songwriter or a music publisher assigned the right. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, only the copyright holder has the right to authorize others to "prepare derivative works based upon" a musical composition.
History
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According to UCLA Law's Copyright Infringement Project, federal courts have published less than 100 opinions on music plagiarism since the 1850s--most cases never go to trial, and even fewer generate a judicial opinion.
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Melody and Lyrics
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Music plagiarism can be stealing a lyric or melody or both, whether intentional or not. Bright Tunes, the owner of the copyright for The Chiffons' "He's So Fine" sued Harrisongs for copyright infringement in releasing George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." The court found Harrison had subconsciously stolen the musical essence of "He's So Fine."
Parody
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Parody is acceptable as it falls under Fair Use guidelines. Weird Al Yankovic was able to release his song "Fat," which borrowed the tune from Michael Jackson's "Bad," for this reason.
Sampling
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Sampling, popular in hip-hop and other music genres, is using pieces of a copyrighted work in a new composition. Robert Matthew Van Vinkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, was sued for sampling "Under Pressure," by Queen and David Bowie, and had to pay a settlement.
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