Top 10 Songs Sued for Plagiarism

Photo by Steve

Photo by Steve

Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?

One of Rod Stewart’s most well known hits was a rip off from Brazilian musician, Jorge Ben Jor’s track Taj Mahal in 1976. “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was released in 1978 and appeared at the top of British charts and the US Billboard Hot 100. It was ranked number four by Billboard on its Top Singles of 1979.

Stewart was accused of partial musical plagiarism and settled the lawsuit with Jorge Ben Jor, admitting to “unconscious plagiarism”. Stewart also agreed to pay a portion of the proceeds made from the song to UNICEF. According to Stewart he was listening to the original song when recording his tune, so it was nothing more than “innocent” plagiarism on his behalf, but it was alleged that prior to releasing the song, Stewart was actually at a Jorge Ben Jor concert in Rio de Janeiro, and the plagiarism may not have been so innocent.

|