Plagiarism Lawsuit
On July 5, 2011, songwriter Anthony Stokes filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against John Legend in United States District Court, in the District of New Jersey, alleging that Legend's song "Maxine's Interlude" from his 2006 album Once Again derives from Stokes' demo "Where Are You Now". Stokes claimed he gave Legend a demo of the song in 2004 following a concert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Legend denied the allegations, telling E! Online, "I never heard of his song until he sued me. I would never steal anyone's song. We will fight it in court and we will prevail." However, nearly 60,000 people took a TMZ.com poll that compared the two songs and 65% of voters believed that Legend's "Maxine's Interlude" is a rip-off of Stokes' "Where Are You Now". A year later, Legend confirmed that he has now settled the lawsuit with Stokes.
Read more about this topic: John Legend, Career and Life
Famous quotes containing the word plagiarism:
“Mr. Fitzgerald—I believe that is how he spells his name—seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home.”
—Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948)