American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has taken to Twitter to confirm reports that Radiohead is suing her for copyright infringement because her song “Get Free” allegedly copied elements from the band’s 1992 hit song “Creep“.
Lana Del Rey, who has released 5 major albums and a handful of EPs, is best known for her songs “Summertime Sadness”, “Young and Beautiful” (which was used as soundtrack for the 2013 film version of ‘The Great Gatsby’), and “Love”, among others. The song “Get Free” is the last track on her 2017 album “Lust For Life.”
It has been reported that the Radiohead team is hoping that the members “either receive compensation or be credited on the list of songwriters to receive royalties,” but Lana stated in her tweet that they wanted to receive “100% of the publishing”.
https://twitter.com/LanaDelRey/status/950065789549166592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The song, like the Lust For Life album, features more hopeful and positive themes compared to Lana’s previous works but retains the deeply personal lyrics and melancholic tunes she is best known for. During a concert in Denver last January 7, Lana referred to ‘Get Free’ as her “personal manifesto”. The singer also said that the song might be removed from the album as part of the lawsuit.
“I just want to let you know, regardless if it gets taken down off of everything, that those sentiments that I wrote… that I really am going to strive for them, even if that song is not on future physical releases of the record,” she said.
Radiohead was also sued for copying the chord progression and melody of “Creep” from the 1972 hit song “The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies. Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey” album, which includes the disputed track, now credits Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood (who wrote “The Air That I Breathe”) as co-writers of “Creep”. Hammond and Hazlewood also split royalties with the band.
Some fans on Twitter expressed their opinions about the issue using the hashtag #RadioheadIsOverParty:
https://twitter.com/JamieTheIcon/status/950096066136956929
Radiohead got sued by The Hollies, because creep was a rip off of the air that I breathe. Now Radiohead are suing Lana Del Rey for ripping off creep.
It's like suing someone for breaking the window of the house you're squatting in.
— Gareth Icke (@garethicke) January 7, 2018
me after listening to creep by radiohead trynna get conclusion where the fuck they think it is like get free #RadioheadIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/zToAZe97Y0
— into the blue (@mellifluousxe) January 7, 2018
Some people, on the other hand, believe that Radiohead has a strong case against the singer. In an interview with Variety, Bill Hochberg, an attorney who specializes in music copyright law, said that Lana’s song is “way too close to what is a rather unusual set of chord changes and a very distinctive melody line.”
Listen to Lana Del Rey’s “Get Free”:
And to Radiohead’s “Creep”:
