The Edge of Glory & Other 'Same Song' Tales Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. When Lady Gaga released a song called "The Edge of Glory", it was compared to a song called "Sin Miedo" by the singer, Soraya Arnelas. What nationality was she?

Answer: Spanish

Soraya Arnelas was born in Spain in 1982 and was a popular singer in her native country. She represented Spain at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. "Sin Miedo", "Without Fear", was a single and title track of a 2008 album. In 2011, Clevver [sic] Music reported that Lady Gaga was, in their words, "getting heat for possibly copying a Spanish artist". It reported that some said "Edge of Glory" was, again in their words, "similar" to "Sin Miedo".
Lady Gaga was also sued over claims that her song "Judas" copied the 1999 song "Juda" by Rebecca Fancescatti.
Madonna, meanwhile, said that Gaga's "Born This Way" was "a wonderful way to redo my song "Express Yourself". [From "Newsweek"].

2. Which former member of The Beatles faced the accusation that one of his greatest solo hits plagiarised an earlier song?

Answer: George Harrison

"My Sweet Lord" was a chart-topper for Harrison around the world in 1970. However, there were accusations of musical similarities between "My Sweet Lord" and The Chiffons' 1962 hit "He's So Fine". That led to a lawsuit and in 1976 a US court ruled that Harrison had "subconsciously" copied the earlier song and he was ordered to pay damages. Ironically, The Chiffons then went on to release a version of "My Sweet Lord".

3. "Everybody's gone surfin' Surfin' U.S.A." or so sang The Beach Boys, but they were later accused of copying the melody of an earlier song called "Sweet Little Sixteen". Who wrote the earlier song?

Answer: Chuck Berry

"Surfin' USA" was a top 10 hit in 1963, but Chuck Berry's music company sued and he was eventually granted the song-writing credit. Every time The Beach Boys play "Surfin' USA", the royalties go to Berry.

4. Which material girl had to sustain some heat when a songwriter claimed that one of her cold, hard hits copied a song he had written almost 25 years before?

Answer: Madonna

Madonna released "Frozen" in 2000 and was hit by a law suit in Belgium claiming that it copied Salvatore Acquaviva's "Ma Vie Fout le camp". He won the case, but while "Frozen" was ordered to be withdrawn from sale in Belgium, he got no damages.
Madonna was no stranger to claims of 'sharp practices', and was sued a number of times for alleged plagiarism.

5. When is plagiarism not plagiarism? presumably when the original source is acknowledged. Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" had some strange lyrics, but the melody was inspired by compositions of one of the great classical composers. Who was he?

Answer: J. S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String" have openly been cited as influences by co-authors Gary Brooker, Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher. It was a UK Number One and a US Number Five in 1967.

6. When two songs share the same name and some of the same lyrics, something looks a little strange and so a US court agreed when it found against Michael Bolton in 1991. Who originally released "Love is a Wonderful Thing"?

Answer: The Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers song was released in 1964 and Bolton's in 1991.
Despite Bolton's protests, in 1994 a District Court jury awarded what were to that time the largest damages ever for music plagiarism, $5.4m. An appeal court upheld the jury's decision, and the US Supreme Court declined in 2001 to review that decision.

7. Who walked the line when he wrote a song that had more than a passing resemblance to another song? Maybe he thought "the boy'll never sue".

Answer: Johnny Cash

Oh but Gordon Jenkins did sue the Man in Black in 1968 over "Folsom Prison Blues", Cash's 1956 hit, and the case was settled out of court.
Fairwagelawyers.com noted that: "When the lyrics to the two songs are compared side by side, there is no question that they are kissing cousins." The 1968 out-of-court settlement gave Jenkins about $75,000.
(And no apologies from me for that pun in the question.)

8. "Ice Ice Baby" was a chart topper for Vanilla Ice in 1990, then he found himself challenged by a British rock band and an iconic solo star for illegally 'sampling' part of a song they released. Who launched a court claim?

Answer: Queen and David Bowie

The case never made it to court; Vanilla Ice settled. Ironically the name of the song he sampled was "Under Pressure", a Number One Hit for Queen and Bowie in 1981.

9. Who are you gonna call when you think someone's ripped off your riff? your lawyers, that's who. And that's just what Huey Lewis did when he reckoned the theme for a hit movie was 'based' on one of his songs. Which movie was it?

Answer: Ghostbusters

"I Want a New Drug" was a hit for Huey Lewis & The News in 1983. Then Lewis was asked to write the musical score for "Ghostbusters" (1984). He declined because he was busy with a similar project for "Back To The Future" (1985).
Ray Parker Jr took on the task of the score of "Ghostbusters". When it was released, Lewis sued because he believed his music, particularly a guitar riff, had been poached. The case was settled out of court.

10. So, let's see if we can get this plagiarism thing worked out: If I pass off someone else's idea as my own, that's illegal, right? OK, so which songwriter was sued for plagiarising a song written by...himself?

Answer: John Fogerty

In 1985, Fogerty released "The Old Man Down the Road", which, it was said, copied a lot from "Run Through the Jungle," which Fogerty had written in 1970. Unfortunately, Fogerty did not own the rights to "Run Through the Jungle", and the company that did sued.

The music, the riffs and the vocal delivery were the same, it claimed. Expert witnesses testified the songs were similar but not plagiarised and Fogerty was acquitted of any illegality. He counter-sued for his legal costs, and won.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

When Lady Gaga released 'The Edge of Glory', there were accusations it resembled another song. It's not an uncommon claim in music. Let's explore some of them.

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