Band That Successfully Sued Radiohead Weighs in on Possible Suit Against Lana Del Rey for SAME Song

The Hollies, a British rock band that successfully sued Radiohead for copyright infringement, are now weighing in on the current dispute between Thom Yorke’s band and Lana Del Rey.

Pop singer Del Rey claimed earlier this week that Radiohead are seeking credit for her song “Get Free,” with the band arguing it was inspired by their hit single “Creep” — a song itself that back in the day got Radiohead sued by The Hollies, who claimed it was inspired by their song “The Air That I Breathe.”

Well, The Hollies are now weighing in on the back-and-forth between Del Rey and Radiohead, urging both sides to “keep it out of court if you can.”

“‘Credit where credit is due’, that is essential in all art,” the band said in a statement to Mediaite.

They continued:

It can be very difficult to differentiate between coincidence and outright plagiarism – hence musicologists, in most cases, have a better role to play than lawyers. Keep it out of court if you can – the costs can mean nobody wins in the end.In The Hollies case, although ‘The Air That I Breathe’ was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, it was our arrangement, production and style that gave it the distinctive sound that made it a huge international hit. I presume that Radiohead really liked our track which in turn influenced the creation of their song ‘Creep’.Radiohead and Del Rey are highly respected and talented artists. I’m sure on a personal level they could find some common ground, but alas it probably isn’t down to them and that’s a shame.

After the release of Radiohead’s 1992 single “Creep,” songwriters Hammond and Hazlewood were granted co-credit due to the song’s similarities to The Hollies’ 1974 hit “The Air that I Breathe.”

Del Rey suggested on Twitter Sunday that Radiohead is now claiming “Creep” closely resembles her song “Get Free” and is seeking “100% of the publishing” as a result.

Many were to quick to point to Radiohead’s previous court troubles, including 80s icon Boy George.

Others shared Boy George’s confusion.

Radiohead’s publisher, Warner/Chappell, told The Guardian on Wednesday that they have not filed suit against Del Rey, but are asking for Radiohead to be acknowledged.

“It’s clear that the verses of (Del Rey’s song) Get Free use musical elements found in the verses of Creep and we’ve requested that this be acknowledged in favor of all writers of Creep,” the publisher said in a statement.

So how similar are the three songs? Here they are back-to-back.

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