Peppers Didn't Plagarize Petty

[ROC]

Peppers Didn't Plagiarize Petty

Dotmusic Wed Jul 5, 12:00 PM ET

Tom Petty will not be suing the Red Hot Chili Peppers for plagiarism, according to an interview in Rolling Stone magazine.

Commentators had speculated that a legal battle was on the cards after the New York Post reported the similarities between the Chili's "Dani California" and Petty's 1993 track "Mary Jane's Last Dance."

Jared Morris, a producer and talk-show host at US radio station WGMD-FM, told the newspaper that the tracks were nearly identical. He explained: "It's not just the chord progressions are the same--the entire theme of the song is the same, and some of the lyrics are the same."

However, Petty told Rolling Stone that he had no intention of taking legal action.

Speaking to the magazine, he said: "The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. A lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask

Chuck Berry. The Strokes took 'American Girl' [for their song 'Last Nite'], and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn’t bother me."

He added: "If someone took my song note-for-note and stole it maliciously, then maybe [i would sue them]. But I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."

[Benji]

Class act as always.

To be honest, I think Dani California could be considered a bit of an homage really, much like the video for the song is to the bands they use.

[A-Dub]

God bless Tom Petty.

He's truly what a rock legend should be. This is definatly the best course of action to take in this situation, good on him.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Shouldnt it be said that they did plagarize but Tom Petty isn't bothered?

[ROC]

Shouldnt it be said that they did plagarize but Tom Petty isn't bothered?

[MalaCloudy Black]

+5 points for Tom Petty, still don't like his music though.

[thatshortguy]

Major props to Petty for taking the high road. When the entire issue came up, I didn't feel like it was that much mainly due to the fact Petty has shown good integrity recently. He could have easily targeted a band which sells many more albums than he currently does and milk it for publicity, but he chose the better path. So kudos.

In a minutely-related issue, the RHCP spoke out about U2 (the timing and content of which I don't really agree with, given the Petty/RHCP issue which is just now starting to die out.) You can check that out here.

[MalaCloudy Black]

i-ro-ny.

[Boulder]

One of Petty's new songs (can't recall the title, unfortunately) opens up exactly like "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" by George Thorogood. Now that's a disappointment, when you're expecting to hear Thorogood.

[gunnar hendershow]

This only further cements the fact that Tom Petty is the fucking man.

Major props to Petty for taking the high road. When the entire issue came up, I didn't feel like it was that much mainly due to the fact Petty has shown good integrity recently. He could have easily targeted a band which sells many more albums than he currently does and milk it for publicity, but he chose the better path. So kudos.

In a minutely-related issue, the RHCP spoke out about U2 (the timing and content of which I don't really agree with, given the Petty/RHCP issue which is just now starting to die out.) You can check that out here.

They haven't seen the X-Games commercials I would assume.

Edited July 12, 2006 by damshow

[Guest Bosstown Boy]

They haven't seen the X-Games commercials I would assume.

[apsham]

No, they still did... he's just not taking action.

[ClaRK! Kent]

+ Several million points to Boulder for the George Thorogood reference.