> My Sweet Lord

> He’s So Fine

Coldplay Vs. Joe Satriani

This was a big mess for a while. The Internet wouldn’t stop talking about it, then Satriani sued Coldplay for thievery. The case was eventually dismissed after Chris Martin and co. agreed to pay a financial settlement.

> Viva La Vida

> If I Could Fly

>> Mashup: Viva La Vida/If I Could Fly

Timbaland And Nelly Furtado Vs. Janne Suni

Random Finnish composer Janne Suni was pretty sure that Timbaland and Nelly Furtado stole the “original and central identifying melodic, harmonic and rhythmic components” of his song “Acidjazzed Evening” for their track “Do It.” The courts did not agree, and the case was thrown out.

> Do It

> Acidjazzed Evening

This song would make an awesome soundtrack for a Megaman villain.

>> Mashup: Do It/Acidjazzed Evening

Radiohead Vs. The Hollies

After Radiohead was informed that “Creep” appeared to borrow a melodic line from The Hollies’ 1974 hit “The Air That I Breathe”, they dutifully added a cowriting credit for Hollies members Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood to the liner notes of Pablo Honey.

> Creep

> The Air That I Breathe

Black Eyed Peas Vs. Bryan Pringle

Some dude named Bryan Pringle sued The Black Eyed Peas for stealing the chord progression from his dumb song “Take A Dive” for their dumb song “I Gotta Feeling”. Hopefully we can resolve this one by promising never to listen to either of these songs ever again.

> I Gotta Feeling

> Take A Dive

The Verve Vs. The Rolling Stones

The Verve had actually asked and obtained permission to use a sample of the Andrew Oldham Orchestra’s recording of the Rolling Stones’ song “The Last Time” in the chorus of “Bittersweet Symphony”, but a court decided that they had somehow used too much of it, so they never saw a dime from their single.

Singer Richard Ashcroft later quipped that “Bittersweet Symphony” was “the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years”. Which was pretty winning of him.

> Bittersweet Symphony

> The Last Time (Andrew Oldham Orchestra)

> The Last Time (Rolling Stones)

R.E.M. Vs. Leonard Cohen

After R.E.M. recorded the (shockingly underrated) “Hope” for their 11th album, Up, they all suddenly realized that it sounded uncannily like Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”. They called him up and gave him cowriting credits just to be safe.

> Hope

> Suzanne

Avril Lavigne Vs. Peaches

This one never went to court, but the Internet got really pissed on Peaches’ behalf when Avril’s godawful “I Don’t Have To Try” reminded some folks of Peaches’ track “I’m The Kinda”.

> I Don’t Have To Try

> I’m The Kinda

>> Mashup: I Don’t Have To Try/I’m The Kinda

Ke$ha Vs. Chrissy

Another Internet-driven controversy. Someone called Chrissy wrote a song called “My Slushy” for some reason known only to her. Ke$ha’s Tik Tok totally sounds like it, but that’s not really a compliment for either artist.

> Tik Tok

> My Slushy

>> Mashup: Tik Tok/My Slushy

Gretchen Wilson Vs. The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Gretchen Wilson due to the unavoidable fact that her “Work Hard Play Harder” sounded exactly like their “Jealous Again”.

> Work Hard Play Harder

> Jealous Again

Miley Cyrus Vs. Lustra

Lustra dropped the legal aspect of their accusation that Miley Cyrus had stolen parts of their “Scotty Doesn’t Know” for her song “Rockstar” and challenged her to a live song-off instead.

> Rockstar

> Scotty Doesn’t Know

Rascall Flats Vs. Pat Benatar

D.L. Byron, the songwriter behind Pat Benatar’s “Shadows Of The Night”, was pissed when he heard Rascall Flatts’ “No Reins”. Legal shenanigans ensued.

> No Reins

> Shadows Of The Night

Justin Bieber Vs. Raaaaaaaandy

And finally, this cynical piece of thievery happened. Et tu, Bieber?