http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU5qP20iJl0

“He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ls8Mhoafn0

“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

Songwriters sometimes subconsciously copy songs that they had heard a decade ago. In a few widely publicized cases, this has resulted in a lawsuit. In Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, 420 F.Supp. 177 (SDNY 1976), Ronald Mack and his publisher successfully sued George Harrison for copying the melody of Mack’s composition “He’s So Fine[1]” into Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord[2]“. This finding was upheld on appeal in 1983 as ABKCO Music v. Harrisongs Music.