Some days ago I was listening to a Beatles mix on YouTube and suddenly Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” caught my attention. It was similar to something else, an oldies tune for sure. Firstly, I thought it was a cover, but then I realized it wasn’t. It was Harrison’s own creation. Listening carefully, I finally discovered what was the reminiscent tune I was thinking about. It somehow resembled to Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine”.
Wondering if it was just my imagination, I googled it. It seems that some others noticed this resemblance too.
On February 10, 1971, Bright Tunes Music Corporation filed suit alleging that the George Harrison hit “My Sweet Lord” was a plagiarism of “He’s So Fine”. The case did not go to trial until February 1976 when the judge ruled on the liability portion of the suit in favor of Bright Tunes, determining that Harrison had committed “subconscious” plagiarism. The suit to determine damages was scheduled for November 1976 but delayed until February 1981, by which time Allen Klein, Harrison’s onetime manager who had been his legal adviser in the first phase of the suit, had become the plaintiff by virtue of purchasing Bright Tunes. The final decision was that Harrison himself would purchase Bright Tunes from Klein for $587,000 – the amount Klein had paid for the corporation—and although litigation continued for at least ten more years that decision was upheld. In 1975 the Chiffons would record a version of “My Sweet Lord”, attempting to capitalize on the publicity generated by the lawsuit. Harrison’s “This Song” was written in reaction to the plagiarism suit (Wikipedia).
