Thursday, December 11, 2008

Tis The Season To Be Accusing : Paul McCartney Denies Stealing Blind Willie Johnson Song


In a week where already we've seen blues rock guitarist Gary Moore lose a plagairism case and guitarist Joe Satriani suing Coldplay accusing them of ripping off his "If I could Fly" for their worldwide smash "Viva La Vida" comes yet another accusation of song theft. This time against one of the greatest songwriters of all time, ex Beatle Paul McCartney, who has been accused of lifting the late blues legend Blind Willie Johnson's "Let Your Light Shine On Me"


Reports at the weekend claimed that McCartney and collaborator Youth had taken elements of Johnson's "Let Your Light Shine On Me" and used it on their new song "Light From Your Lighthouse", despite McCartney acknowledging the older song had "inspired" his in the album's sleevenotes of the recenty released album 'Electric Arguments'.


However, speaking to NME.com, the duo explained they have done nothing wrong, because Johnson's song is based on a traditional composition and so there was no copyright breach.

"It's true that The Fireman used the Blind Willie Johnson track as inspiration for our own song," they said. "His is a traditional song and this is not the first time an artist has made their own version using such a traditional song."

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