Publisher Denies Radiohead Lawsuit Against Lana Del Rey

According to Radiohead publisher Warner/Chappell, Radiohead never planned to take Lana Del Rey to court over a copyright complaint, nor did it asked for 100 percent of her publishing. 

Lana Del Rey
John Davisson
– Lana Del Rey
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif.

Lana Del Rey seemed to confirm rumors on Sunday that Radiohead was seeking legal action over “Get Free,” a song on her current album Lust For Life. The song shares musical elements with Radiohead’s “Creep,” which in turn shares elements with “The Air That I Breathe,” penned by Mike Hazelwood and Albert Hammond, and made famous by the Hollies in 1974.

Lana Del Rey had tweeted, “it’s true about the lawsuit.” She went on to say, “although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead feel it was and want 100 percent of the publishing – I offered up to 40 over the last few months but they will only accept 100. Their lawyers have been relentless, so we will deal with it in court.”

Radiohead knows the feeling. The band was sued itself, when Hazlewood and Hammond claimed that the 1992 song “Creep” borrowed heavily from “The Air That I Breathe.” The case was settled outside of court, and both songwriters were added to the credits. 

But the band now claims to never have sought a date in court with Lana Del Rey. Its publisher Warner/Chappell released a statement saying: “To set the record straight, no lawsuit has been issued and Radiohead have not said they ‘will only accept 100 per cent’ of the publishing of ‘Get Free.’”

Thom Yorke of Radiohead
John Davisson
– Thom Yorke of Radiohead
Thom Yorke and Radiohead kept its poise through sound problems during its headline set at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., April 14.

It does, however, acknowledge, “that we’ve been in discussions since August of last year with Lana Del Rey’s representatives. It’s clear that the verses of ‘Get Free’ use musical elements found in the verses of ‘Creep’ and we’ve requested that this be acknowledged in favor of all writers of ‘Creep.’”