Radiohead was once accused of copying another song to make “Creep”

The track Radiohead are accusing Lana Del Rey of copying on “Get Free” was once itself accused of lifting from a different song, “The Air I Breathe” by The Hollies.

January 08, 2018

Lana Del Rey and Radiohead are currently embroiled in a legal battle around "Get Free," a song on Lana Del Rey's recent album Lust for Life. The band claims the track was inspired by "Creep," Radiohead's 1992 hit, which Del Rey denies.

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However, it's not the first time that the Pablo Honey track has been at the center of a copyright infringement lawsuit. According to Time, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood successfully sued Radiohead for lifting elements for "Creep" from “The Air That I Breathe,” a 1974 song the duo wrote for English pop group The Hollies (Pitchfork says the two bands reached an out-of-court settlement).

After the litigation, Hammond and Hazlewood received co-writing credits on "Creep." Compare "The Air That I Breathe" by the Hollies above with Radiohead's "Creep" below.

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Thumbnail photos: Jim Dyson/Getty Images and Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Radiohead was once accused of copying another song to make “Creep”