There had been numerous times, intentionally or unintentionally, artists ‘borrowed’ from others, from the time the Rolling Stones sued the Verge to when Marvin Gaye’s estate took Ed Sheeran to court over plagiarism accusations.
Oasis also had their fair share of accusations when it came down to ‘plagiarism‘ or, as they say, while reflecting their idols’ ‘influences‘ into their songs, and the band never made that an exact secret. In fact, they often prided themselves on successfully recreating their inspirations into original pieces, not minding snidey questions or comments about ‘authenticity.’
However, one ‘snidey’ comment didn’t remain solely a comment, as a fellow rocker decided Noel Gallagher had taken things too far while drawing inspiration, and they decided to sue the songwriter and his bandmates.
It was 1994, and Oasis had started making the headlines more and more, whether it was because of their hit releases or clashes with other rockers. However, when they released ‘Whatever,’ the act’s first non-album single, the news outlets, maybe, for the first time, featured something different than their usual headlines, writing about how the Gallaghers had been sued.
A fellow British rocker, Neil Innes, reportedly filed for a lawsuit over plagiarism accusations, claiming the hotshot band borrowed portions from his 1973 song, ‘How Sweet to Be an Idiot,’ and built ‘Whatever’ off of it.
So, as the lawsuit progressed, Noel, who usually never backed away from a fight, decided to settle with Innes rather than denying the accusations and gave into Neil’s request to be given a songwriting credit and receive royalties from the Oasis song.
Although the borrowed melodic lines weren’t lengthy, with the portion consisting of only eight notes, it still didn’t change the court’s decision that ‘Whatever’ had unauthorized inspiration from Neil’s track, leading Noel to allow the fellow rocker to have credits and receive royalties from the song.
