Hives Sued For Plagiarism By LA Musician
October 30th, 2008
Jason Shapiro has filed suit against the Swedish rockers claiming the group’s popular song, ‘Tick Tick Boom‘, copies main riff and vocal melody to Shapiro’s song, ‘Why You?‘.
Shapiro wrote the track, ‘Why You?‘, with his band The Roofies in 1997 and later re-recorded the song for his other band, Three Way, in 2002.
The Hives
“I absolutely love The Hives and don’t feel great about suing a band I love. But I also feel credit is due where it is due if you borrow a riff,†Shapiro told LA Weekly.
Shapiro also revealed that both his song and the Hives’ song were analyzed by a musicologist who agreed that the two tracks were “very similar” and that it wasn’t just a coincidence.
“He said the part in question -the main riff and vocal melody- was very similar and its uniqueness led him to believe it wasn’t just a coincidence,†says Shapiro. “He also runs it through a background test seeing if any charts from previous songs are close and
we were clear on that front.â€
The Hives have yet to comment on the lawsuit.
You can compare the two tracks yourself by heading over to Shapiro’s band MySpace and clicking track #1 and then heading over to The Hives‘ MySpace and clicking on track #2.
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