UnNews:Elvis heirs sue The Prodigy for plagiarism
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Elvis heirs sue The Prodigy for plagiarism |
10 March 2015
BROADMOOR, England -- The heirs of Elvis Presley have sued the British music group called The Prodigy. The plaintiffs claim that Keith Flint and his band used the King’s looks and music, with a few slight changes, and shot to fame without ever paying a dollar in royalties.
The suit is comparable to one in which Marvin Gaye’s family sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for plagiarism. Those artists were ordered to repay $7.4 in damages and in profits attributable to infringement.
The estate of Elvis took “Love Me Tender”, removed the melodic patterns of the song, changed the pitch, added some car horn honking, dog barking and bum barfing sounds and then played it backwards. To the surprise of the audience, the result was “Smack My Bitch Up”.
The next exhibit was a cardboard with the portraits of the King and Keith glued side-by side, proving beyond any doubt that Keith is in fact just a precarious impersonation of the King. ‘They moved the thick hair from top to sides, added some piercings, told him to stick his tongue out and replace the kind mimic with the one of a mentally challenged man. They didn’t even bother to change his sex, skin colour, or at least button up his shirt. Even his stage name also starts with the same letter ‘K’. Altering one’s image and songs a bit and then claiming it’s your original work is completely preposterous and should be punished as a major criminal offence,’ stated the plaintiff’s lawyer before resting his case.
Some fear that the favourable court decision in this trial might spark many other lawsuits based on a similar wealth of outrageous coincidences, even in fields that are unrelated to the music industry, such as Gustave Eiffel’s family against the dildo industry and Genghis Khan’s successors against Boko Haram.
Source[edit]
- "Pharrell's $7.3m Bill For Copying Marvin Gaye". Sky News, March 11, 2015
- Eriq Gardner "'Blurred Lines' jury orders Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay $7.4 million". CNN, March 10, 2015