Hall of shame: Stars who were dragged to court over plagiarism

Musician’s Justin Bieber and Skrillex’ Sorry is not the only song to be sued for plagiarism. We take a look at some of the iconic hits that have been sued for copyright infringement over the years.

Call it inspiration, call it a coincidence or simply call it plagiarism--international musicians have been accused of lifting songs and reaping profits out of them.

Justin Bieber and Skrillex’ popular hit Sorry came under fire after a suit was filed in the US by singer-songwriter Casey Dienel. (YouTube Grab)

Read: I made mistakes initially, Pritam on plagiarising charges

Pop singer Justin Bieber and Skrillex’ popular hit Sorry, which has over a billion hits on YouTube came under fire after a suit was filed in Nashville federal court, US by singer-songwriter Casey Dienel, who performs as White Hinterland, claiming that Sorry uses a vocal riff from her song Ring the Bell, which was released from her album Baby in 2014.

Read: Justin Bieber finds award shows ‘hollow’

British rock legend Led Zeppelin is facing a lawsuit after a US judge noted “substantial” similarities between the opening guitar chords of the band’s’ iconic rock song--Stairway To Heaven and Taurus by Spirit in 1967.

Singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were dragged to the court after their song Blurred Lines was sued by the family of singer Marvin Gaye, for copying his song, Got To Give Up, and were awarded $7.4 million, despite Thicke saying that it was merely “inspired”.

Legendary guitarist Joe Satriani claimed that Viva La Vida (2008) by the British rock group Coldplay copied parts of his 2004 instrumental track If I Could Fly. The band closed the matter with an out of court settlement with Satriani in 2009.

Vanilla Ice shocked everyone, with his Ice Ice Baby which many pointed was a blatant rip off of the song Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. The American rapper later decided to pay royalty to both the artists to avoid a lawsuit.