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Lana being sued by Radiohead


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Cssomeone
5 hours ago, ItsTommyBitch said:

Lana did not say "Radiohead is suing me for 100% of the publishing rights" - she said that she offered them 40% and they did not accept it, so they are going to court.

So the publisher's comments to me seem like the rebuttal of an assumption made based off of her words. It's spinning information, even if its just slightly :gum: 

Lana has never been the one to deal with public criticism well, let alone scandal. It's been very emotionally and physically taxing for her over the years, and in many ways she often seems incredibly affected by the BtD and early Ultraviolence eras. She has clearly had mental health related issues because of this kind of thing and she still struggles to give interviews and things of that nature.

I don't see the point of her lying when that would clearly bring attention to her and cause negative feedback eventually. 

Meanwhile, Radiohead's publishers statement being "to the press" does not make it any more inherently true, the bias is showing :awkney: It's equally likely they are trying to change the story, from Radiohead seeming like petty artists for what they are doing and flip the script to make her seem like a liar. However, what they have said doesn't actually dismiss anything she said in her tweet. It will probably end up being solved in court because I figure that she isn't willing to say that "Radiohead" (and whoever else) should be considered writers or that kind of thing because although there are obviously similarities in the verse/pre-chorus (the chords mean absolutely nothing legally and musically, its not uncommon at all) she wasn't actually inspired by Creep at all - melodically or lyrically. (I personally think she should concede however I understand standing your guns and defending yourself when you're telling the truth) 

I'd wager it was accidental. The melody of the verses of Get Free aren't even very original for Lana herself. Many of her songs have similar intervallic patterns and contours melodically. It's appropriate to the mood. Look at Ultraviolence, Honeymoon, a few of her unreleased, etc.

It's the chorus and the instrumental + layering and the outro that give Get Free its unique qualities, as well as her vocal timbre and the production on her voice.

I'm basically saying, Lana has plenty songs whose verses are somewhat similar to Get Free's - this one only sounds like Creep because the so called "unique" chord progression gives it such a setting.Are Lana's natural melodic instincts that favor low, falling slow verses for her more ballad like songs all copies of Creep by Radiohead :gum: 

If I had more time, I would sit down at a piano and map out the melodic structures and intervals of a bunch of verses of Lana songs. I feel pretty confident that "Get Free"'s verses would not be inconsistent with her style. I don't believe she copied ****, and even though I know "intent" is not something that the law is truly concerned with here, I understand wanting to stand up for yourself and your art. 

This has been discussed so much, I am actually tired 😴 But here we go ...

There are two things in this whole story which I'd like to point out:

- Many fans/people, like you, have discussed that both songs do not sound alike (when it's obvious they do). So why did Lana offer 40% of the publishing? Some argue that she just wanted to set the deal quickly, or that she doesn't like getting involved in drama (they even mentioned another case in which she gave part of thecopyrights of one of her songs to an artist who demanded it). As I see it, she is being a hypocrite. She herself said she had no inspiration in "Creep" to write "Get Free", therefore she supposedly owes them nothing.

- Radiohead publishers came forward to clarify that the band/their lawyers was/were not suing her. Firstly, I don't think they would say that if it wasn't true, because they would only make a lie (not suing her) even worse, and damage their image even more. Secondly, why hasn't Lana or her team come forward and disavowed what they said? Ok, she has all the right to be silent (as she should have been since the beginning 👀). Third (and last), even though they said they were not suing her, that doesn't mean they won't (that is what is likely to happen if they don't reach a deal, as they've been discussing this for over five months)

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ItsTommyBitch
59 minutes ago, Cssomeone said:

This has been discussed so much, I am actually tired 😴 But here we go ...

There are two things in this whole story which I'd like to point out:

- Many fans/people, like you, have discussed that both songs do not sound alike (when it's obvious they do). So why did Lana offer 40% of the publishing? Some argue that she just wanted to set the deal quickly, or that she doesn't like getting involved in drama (they even mentioned another case in which she gave part of thecopyrights of one of her songs to an artist who demanded it). As I see it, she is being a hypocrite. She herself said she had no inspiration in "Creep" to write "Get Free", therefore she supposedly owes them nothing.

- Radiohead publishers came forward to clarify that the band/their lawyers was/were not suing her. Firstly, I don't think they would say that if it wasn't true, because they would only make a lie (not suing her) even worse, and damage their image even more. Secondly, why hasn't Lana or her team come forward and disavowed what they said? Ok, she has all the right to be silent (as she should have been since the beginning 👀). Third (and last), even though they said they were not suing her, that doesn't mean they won't (that is what is likely to happen if they don't reach a deal, as they've been discussing this for over five months)

It's like you didn't read what I said :gum: 

I acknowledged that they do sound alike. However this doesn't mean that much on its own. It has to be substantial for it to be copyright infringement. What I typed next was me making a case as to why I think they sound alike, because there's absolutely no reason to believe that she blatantly heard the song, recreated the melody, and sent this song out to the presses - that she showed her execs and people who are supposed to check for this kind of thing, and they all said "Yep, creep 2.0, lets run it." :laughga: I think its accidental and coincidental, which may not mean much to a court of law, however it does mean a lot in the court of opinion. It's just conjecture, but I think it holds up if you know about music and Lana as an artist.

As for why she offered the 40%, there are lots of potential reasons. Wanting to not make a huge deal out of it (its not like the song "Get Free" is earning significant amounts of money at all. It's the last track with no promotion on a record that sold under 200,000 copies :rip:) and therefore giving them a sizable chunk of that income seems fair considering she and her team firmly know/believe that it was not inspired by Creep at all. This doesn't mean they have blinders on and do not realize that the chord progression is like identical and the verse/pre-chorus melody of Get Free lines up with part of Creep. We don't know enough of the behind the scenes to assume that Lana and co were immediately like "oh ****, we gotta cover our tracks" and threw out that figure. If they have been talking since August, it's also totally possible that Lana's team's initial reaction was "its not an inspiration/sample, get out" and that amount worked its way up to 40% after the opinions of music professionals and more ears, but Radiohead's team/press still believe that it is - or that the similarities are significant enough to warrant more than Lana's team is offering - whether its publishing, a writing credit, an admission of copying, whatever it is - we don't know. Acknowledging that there are similarities between the songs is not synonymous with acknowledging that Creep was in any way an inspiration for Get Free, which is exactly why she said "Although I know my song was not inspired by Creep" :smh: 

 We are often using "Lana" and "Radiohead" as shorthand for their legal teams and management. In reality Lana the individual and Radiohead the group are not the sole parties involved here and much of it surely goes over their head and their actions are taken with clear and scientific precision and advisement. That being said, Radiohead's team has the advantage of a sort of press-release statement. Lana made her comment over twitter, a social media platform. I don't believe her entire team was in the room with her, curating every word and position and implication. It's possible that she didn't understand the meaning of the word "publishing" fully. Or she did, and what she said is a rational assumption. She said that their lawyers have been "relentless" and did not accept their seemingly final offer of 40%. This implies that Radiohead is going to take her to court or seek further action, does it not? The other outcome is that they accept that nothing will come of this and stop pursuing her. They may not have sued her yet, but they did wish to issue this statement, which does not say that they are actively not pursuing and evaluating litigation.

I said this in my original post, and you correctly stated the latter part in your post. I don't believe Radiohead's team "lied" either, however they (along with media) are framing it as a refutation. Lana Del Rey lies about being sued by Radiohead. This makes public opinion less one-sided, as they have been getting negative press from the public as well as some respected music officials in the last few days. It seems like clear PR to me. They don't even have to say "Lana lied" they just had to spin it to make that story catch, and clearly it is catching. Check all the alt rock blogs. How dare Lana, this unoriginal fake steal the work of this legendary band. She's always been a fake and this proves she's not even a good artist, blah blah. It's all over the internet. 

I don't know how this wasn't apparent from my original reply (minus the last few admittedly anecdotal examples)

I dont intend on replying past this, because I too am tired of this discussion.

I hope Lana and her team keep quiet and honestly let this blow over. Settle it out of court if still possible at all, or have Lana meet with Thom (:rip:) personally and duke it out. It's either that OR have a huge lawsuit over it that totally ****s up public perception of what it means to "rip off" a song and widens what constitutes a "significant" similarity and stifle artistic creativity even ****ing more, because the general public cant be trusted to safe guard it, and honestly neither can these courts based on how they've behaved in the last few years :madge: + It'll be better for her mental health going forward. 

私自身もこの世の中も誰もかれもが, どんなに華やかな人生でも, どんなに悲惨な人生でも, いつかは変貌し, 破壊され、消滅してしまう. すべてがもともとこの世に存在しない一瞬の幻想なのだから
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StrawberryBlond
14 hours ago, ItsTommyBitch said:

I said this in my original post, and you correctly stated the latter part in your post. I don't believe Radiohead's team "lied" either, however they (along with media) are framing it as a refutation. Lana Del Rey lies about being sued by Radiohead. This makes public opinion less one-sided, as they have been getting negative press from the public as well as some respected music officials in the last few days. It seems like clear PR to me. They don't even have to say "Lana lied" they just had to spin it to make that story catch, and clearly it is catching. Check all the alt rock blogs. How dare Lana, this unoriginal fake steal the work of this legendary band. She's always been a fake and this proves she's not even a good artist, blah blah. It's all over the internet.

This bit especially is crucial. How the media frames it. The various alternative communities have always had a confusing relationship with Lana because of the "too mainstream for the alternative crowd and too alternative for the mainstream crowd," it's one of the hardest places to be in (the same way that Gaga's considered too weird for the mainstream but not weird enough for the alt crowd). Some think she's amazing, others think she's a fake, corporate bimbo whose millionaire father bought her record deal and she's the creation of music executives. Hating anyone who makes it big and gets some level of cultural impact because of it is always a cue to automatically hate them in this community. And they've always been so much harsher on females especially, really judging their art through a very strict lens and quick to call them genuine or fake. Women have so much to prove to this community and they rarely win approval. So, of course, it's all too easy for the mostly male contributers to alternative media to spin this like Lana is lying, which is easy to believe because she's a woman who sings about sugar daddies and, in comparison, Radiohead are a legendary, respected band, therefore, they're in the right. It's not hard to see that they have spun this in a way that any outsider who doesn't listen to either of them is more likely to believe Radiohead.

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ZephyrInTheSky

I highly doubt a chord progression can be copyrighted? :awkney:

There can be 99 bottoms in the area but all it takes is 1 top to believe in you.
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Made a couple friends listen to them and even they don’t think they sound alike.

even if you compare the music sheets they don’t add up.

Radiohead is just being petty.

BYE
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SpookyKid

This thread is a mess, some of you are so childish :air: 

Life has a hopeful undertone |-/
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