1970 No. 1 Hit Song Sparked the Decade's Biggest Copyright Lawsuit
One of the most iconic rock stars of the 1970s spent almost that entire decade battling in court off and on over his biggest solo hit song ever.
On November 28, 1970, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord/Isn't It a Pity" reached number 1 on the Billboard chart together. The songs would hold that top slot for 4 weeks and spend 14 weeks on the charts in total.
"My Sweet Lord" soon spawned an infamous "subconscious plagiarism" legal fight that resulted in a landmark ruling that still profoundly affects the music industry today.
The Hit That Echoed Too Closely: 'My Sweet Lord' vs. 'He's So Fine'
On February 10, 1971, Bright Tunes Music sued George Harrison for copyright infringement. The company claimed that his song, "My Sweet Lord," was too close to the 1963 The Chiffons hit, "He's So Fine." As a result, it sued on behalf of the latter song's writer, Ronnie Mack, who died in 1963.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock's article about the lawsuit, Bright Tunes Music pointed to the similarity of lyrics from The Chiffons' "I don't know how I'm gonna do it" to Harrison's "I really want to see you". They also cited the three-syllable titles of each song.
Despite settlement talks that included Harrison offering to pay $148,000 in damages, the lawsuit dragged on until the court ruled in 1976 that he committed "subconscious plagiarism." Judge Richard Owen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stated on the record that he didn't believe that the rock star knowingly wrote a similar song.
"Did Harrison deliberately use the music of 'He's So Fine'? I do not believe he did so deliberately. Nevertheless, it is clear 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."
Even after that ruling, appeals and the debate over how much Harrison should be ordered to pay in damages forced the matter to continue for several more years. Then, in 1981, Harrison was ordered to pay $587,000. Even then, disputes over royalties and rights went on for many more years.
The matter finally came to an end in March 1998. Ultimately, Harrison ended up owning the rights to "My Sweet Lord" and "He's So Fine" in the U.K. and North America. He also re-recorded the song and re-released it as "My Sweet Lord (2000)" as a part of his 2001 remaster of his 1970 album "All Things Must Pass." The new version removed key elements of the original that led to the ruling against him.
George Harrison Reflected on the Writing of 'My Sweet Lord'
In 1980, George Harrison published an autobiography titled "I Me Mine." Ultimate Classic Rock's article about the lawsuit quoted Harrison's perspective on the writing of "My Sweet Lord" from that book.
"I wasn’t consciously aware of the similarity between 'He’s So Fine' and 'My Sweet Lord' when I wrote the song, as it was more improvised and not so fixed. Although when my version of the song came out and started to get a lot of airplay, people started talking about it, and it was then I thought, 'Why didn’t I realize?' It would have been very easy to change a note here or there, and not affect the feeling of the record."