Old Man Down the Road
This original Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) song was claimed to have been ripped off by John Fogerty on his “Old Man Down the Road” track. CCR presented a number of lawsuits against Fogerty, including the claim that his song was too similar to “Run Through the Jungle. This may be one of the oddest examples of music lawsuits because, in a way, Fogerty was suing himself – he was actually a part of CCR, at one time.
Saul Zaentz, CCR’s representative suing Fogerty, won some of the claims but Fogerty won on the copyright issue. The judge in this case ruled that an artist cannot plagiarize himself. Fogerty in turn, sued Zaentz for the expenses incurred defending himself against the claim, and ended up being awarded attorneys’ fees.
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