Copycats!

As a writer, I have a serious problem with plagiarism.  I mean, if we're gonna have a prison system in this country, we might as well throw plagiarists in there with the drug dealers and thieves.  Perhaps my deep hatred for plagiarism is rooted in guilt; you see, when I served as Editor of the Tulane Review, I published a plagiarized poem.  Of course I had no idea that the "poet," whose name by the way is emblazoned in my head, had plagiarized her lines right out of a well-known short story that had been published in the New Yorker.  Suffice to say that when I was alerted to this situation, I furiously tried to hunt down the "author" of this poem and give her a piece of my mind.  But she dodged me well.  


Universe, I am so sorry for this wretched error!  I still carry guilt from it!

Which brings me to pop music plagiarists.  I'll start with the most minor offender (albeit still annoying):

Miss Jordin Sparks

from

Her song:  Battlefield

Lyrics in question:  "Why does love always feel like a battlefield/ a battlefield/ a battlefield?

Original song:  Pat Benatar--Love is a Battlefield

Lyrics in question:  "Love is a battlefield . . ."

I mean seriously, girlie, that metaphor HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE!  And not only has it been done before, but in one of the standard 80's hymns.  Why on earth did you rip it off???

***

Baby Bash feat. E-40

from

His song:  Go Girl

Lyrics in question:  "California face with a down south rump"

Original Song:  Sir Mix-A-Lot--I Like Big Butts

Lyrics in question:  "LA face with a Oakland booty"

Baby Bash, you may be kinda cute, but this is clearly a rip off.  Sure, you're broadening the scope a little (California/south vs. LA/the bay), but nonetheless, you're a copycat!  Well, I mean, your songwriters are copycats.

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And the worst of all . . . although it pains me to say it, cause I love me some Brit Brit . . .

Miss Britney Spears

from

Her song:  Hold it Against Me

Lyrics in question:  "If I said I want your body now/ would you hold it against me?"

Original song:  Bellamy Brothers--If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body

Lyrics in question:  "If I said you had a beautiful body/ would you hold it against me?"

Sorry Marianne, I know she's your girl, but damn!  That is one unoriginal pun.  I just don't understand why singers (and/or their songwriters?) think it's okay to straight up steal someone else's lyrics without so much as a nod to the original song.  All it does is remind me of the grave error I committed when I published that godforsaken poem eight years ago.  Geez.