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Quiz about Stealing The Show
Quiz about Stealing The Show

Stealing The Show Trivia Quiz


Many artists have been accused of plagiarism. We're going to look at some of better known examples of maybe stealing the song, if not the show.

A multiple-choice quiz by 480154st. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
480154st
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
395,175
Updated
Jul 20 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
248
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Question 1 of 10
1. Which Beach Boys hit from 1963 gives a song writing credit to Chuck Berry, as it uses the music of one of his better known tracks? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Led Zeppelin added another songwriter to the credits of their 1969 track "Whole Lotta Love" in 1985. Who was the new addition? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In one of the strangest court cases, who was John Fogerty accused of plagiarising in 1994? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In 1994, the writers of the Roy Orbison hit "Oh Pretty Woman" (1964) were awarded how much by the Supreme Court after hip-hop band 2 Live Crew parodied the track on their song, "Pretty Woman" (1989)? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Columbia Pictures had asked Huey Lewis to write the theme song to a movie which would become a 1984 smash hit, but he declined. When the theme song did come out though, he sued Columbia and the theme song artist, Ray Parker Jr. for plagiarism. What was the movie? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In 2008, rock guitarist Joe Satriani alleged that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" (2008) song had used large parts of his "If I Could Fly" track from 2004. The waters were further muddied when which singer said the track also sounded like his "Foreigner Suite" (1973)? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Following a court case in the early 90s, Radiohead had to give a songwriting credit on "Creep" (1992) and a percentage of the song's royalties to Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Which of their songs did the band plagiarise? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In 2015, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were found guilty of copyright infringement. Which of their songs, which was a number one in over 20 countries, borrowed heavily from Marvin Gaye? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The first hip hop track to get to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA has a co writing credit for all four members of Queen as well as David Bowie. What was the song? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Probably the most famous plagiarism case was when in 1976, George Harrison was found guilty of plagiarising "He's So Fine", a 1963 hit for The Chiffons, in his 1970 song "My Sweet Lord". Who wrote "He's So Fine"? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which Beach Boys hit from 1963 gives a song writing credit to Chuck Berry, as it uses the music of one of his better known tracks?

Answer: Surfin' U.S.A.

"Surfin' U.S.A." uses the music from Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" (1958) and inadvertently helped keep Berry in the public eye, as when the Beach Boys released it, he was in prison for transporting a minor across state lines. "Surfin' U.S.A." mentions 16 surf spots in the lyrics, of which two are in Hawaii, (Waimea Bay and Sunset), one is in Australia, (Narrabeen) and the rest are in California.
2. Led Zeppelin added another songwriter to the credits of their 1969 track "Whole Lotta Love" in 1985. Who was the new addition?

Answer: Willie Dixon

"Whole Lotta Love" was recorded for the band's 1969 album "Led Zeppelin II" and listed the songwriters as the four members of the band, however similarities were noted right from the start between this track and "You Need Loving" (1966) by Small Faces, which was in turn a very thinly veiled reworking of the Muddy Waters hit "You Need Love" (1962), written by Willie Dixon. Dixon eventually sued Led Zeppelin in 1985 and the band settled out of court and gave Dixon a songwriting credit on all future releases. Strangely, Dixon never sued Small Faces, although as Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant said, "You only get caught if you're successful."
3. In one of the strangest court cases, who was John Fogerty accused of plagiarising in 1994?

Answer: Himself

While a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fogerty wrote "Run Through The Jungle" (1970) but the record label, Fantasy Records acquired the complete publishing rights to the song. After CCR had split up, and Fogerty went solo, he released, in 1984, the track, "The Old Man Down the Road" from his new album. Fantasy thought that this new track was essentially, "Run Through The Jungle" with new lyrics, and sued for copyright infringement.

Although the case was listed as Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty, it was in effect, Fogerty v. Fogerty and common sense prevailed when the courts decided that Fogerty did not infringe upon himself.
4. In 1994, the writers of the Roy Orbison hit "Oh Pretty Woman" (1964) were awarded how much by the Supreme Court after hip-hop band 2 Live Crew parodied the track on their song, "Pretty Woman" (1989)?

Answer: Nothing

Absolutely nothing is the answer as the court ruled that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use. When 2 Live Crew wrote the track, they asked for permission to use it but this was declined. They went ahead and included it on their 1989 album "As Clean As They Wanna Be" anyway, resulting in the lawsuit.

As the band had given the songwriting credits right from the start as "a parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees", there wasn't even a song writing credit to be awarded.
5. Columbia Pictures had asked Huey Lewis to write the theme song to a movie which would become a 1984 smash hit, but he declined. When the theme song did come out though, he sued Columbia and the theme song artist, Ray Parker Jr. for plagiarism. What was the movie?

Answer: Ghostbusters

Lewis felt that the movie's theme song too similar his song "I Want a New Drug" (1983) and the case ended up being settled out of court, although in 2001, Parker sued Lewis for breaching a confidentiality agreement after he spoke about the case in an episode of VH1's "Behind The Music" TV show. Chart wise, "I Want A New Drug" reached number six in the Billboard charts, while "Ghostbusters" hit number one.
6. In 2008, rock guitarist Joe Satriani alleged that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" (2008) song had used large parts of his "If I Could Fly" track from 2004. The waters were further muddied when which singer said the track also sounded like his "Foreigner Suite" (1973)?

Answer: Cat Stevens

Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay, but in 2009, the case was dismissed, with both parties agreeing to potentially settle out of court. Cat Stevens meanwhile said he was considering legal action, but that it "depends on how well Satriani does." As Coldplay drummer and songwriter, Will Champion said, "it's seems to be only the successful songs that are accused of being stolen." Interestingly, after analysing all the tracks involved, music professor Dr. Lawrence Ferrara decided that all three sounded similar to "Se tu m'ami" by the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, who died in 1736, and whose music therefore was public domain.
7. Following a court case in the early 90s, Radiohead had to give a songwriting credit on "Creep" (1992) and a percentage of the song's royalties to Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Which of their songs did the band plagiarise?

Answer: The Air That I Breathe

Radiohead was successfully sued for plagiarism, after it was established that "Creep" uses a chord progression taken from "The Air That I Breathe" (1972) in its verse, and a melody from the song in the bridge following the second chorus.
8. In 2015, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were found guilty of copyright infringement. Which of their songs, which was a number one in over 20 countries, borrowed heavily from Marvin Gaye?

Answer: Blurred Lines

The track was already attracting plenty of attention as critics claimed it was misogynistic and promoted date rape, so being accused of plagiarism was probably the last thing Thicke or Pharrell wanted, but the jury found that they had plagiarised Gaye's 1977 track "Got To Give It Up." Gaye's estate was awarded $7.4 million in damages for the copyright infringement and although Thicke and Pharrell appealed the verdict in 2016, the court once again sided with Gaye's estate and confirmed that the estate is entitled to 50% of all royalties from the song for eternity.
9. The first hip hop track to get to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA has a co writing credit for all four members of Queen as well as David Bowie. What was the song?

Answer: Ice Ice Baby

"Ice Ice Baby" (1989) by Vanilla Ice hit the number one spot in 1990, but was first released without crediting the bassline from the 1981 "Under Pressure" duet between Bowie and Queen, as in the words of Vanilla Ice, "two melodies were slightly different because he had added an additional note." The threat of a law suit from Queen and Bowie encouraged him to change his mind and insist his previous statement had been a joke.

He also gave financial recompense to both parties as well as a songwriting credit, but many critics argue this still isn't enough to make up for the loss of credibility suffered by Queen and Bowie.
10. Probably the most famous plagiarism case was when in 1976, George Harrison was found guilty of plagiarising "He's So Fine", a 1963 hit for The Chiffons, in his 1970 song "My Sweet Lord". Who wrote "He's So Fine"?

Answer: Ronnie Mack

Harrison wound up with a damages bill of $587,000 for the "subconscious plagiarism" of Mack's song after he had admitted being aware of The Chiffons' song. The judge in the case ruled that, ""My Sweet Lord" is the very same song as "He's So Fine" with different words, and Harrison had access to "He's So Fine".

This is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished."
Source: Author 480154st

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