'It’s how rock and roll works': Elvis Costello defends Olivia Rodrigo plagiarism accusations
British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello has defended pop star Olivia Rodrigo after claims she plagiarised one of his songs on her new album.
The American singer, who is famous for songs such as Driver's License and Good 4 U, is accused of directly 'lifting' Costello's guitar riff from his 1978 hit Pump It Up.
Costello responded to a Twitter user's claims with: "This is fine by me, Billy. It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did."
Costello previously gave permission for the riff to feature in dance hit VooDoo Child by Rogue Traders.
This is how Elvis Costello's 1978 song sounds:
And this is Olivia Rodrigo's 2021 hit:
It's not the first time copyright issues have made the headlines in recent years. The family of Marvin Gaye were awarded $7.3m in damages after a US jury found Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke copied one of the star's songs to create hit Blurred Lines.
A jury has found that Katy Perry’s 2013 hit Dark Horse improperly copied a 2009 Christian rap song.
Both Queen's and David Bowie’s representative filed lawsuits against Vanilla Ice, for his song Ice Ice Baby for its undeniably similar bass line to the 1981 song Under Pressure.
Rodrigo - whose songs are widely featured on the social media platform TikTok - also came under fire by American singer-songwriter and actress Courtney Love last week.
On Instagram, Love pointed out similarities between the 18-year-old's artwork with Hole’s Live Through This album cover.
She posted a picture on social media with the caption: “Spot the Difference! #twinning” and later said it was 'rude' that Rodrigo had not approached her for permission.
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