Tuesday 29th September 2015 by Alexandra Pollard, Grace Carroll | Photos by Emma Viola Lilja

'She should take him to court': 12 artists accused of musical theft

From Hozier to Muse, the stars who've been accused of plagiarism

Hozier: This accusation came not from Feist herself, but from her friend and musical big brother Chilly Gonzalez, who took pains to point out the similarity between 'Take Me To Church' and Feist's 'How Come You Never Go There'. "Feist's version came out well over a year before Hozier's", said Gonzalez. "'Take Me To Church'? Maybe Feist should take him to court." Ouch.

Muse: Songwriter Charles Bolfrass filed a $3.5million lawsuit against Muse, claiming that he had contacted the band in 2005 with the idea to write a futuristic rock type opera concerning space travel - and pitched ideas titled 'Exogenesis'. When Muse released their 2009 album The Resistance, there were tracks named 'Exogenesis I', 'Exogenesis II' and 'Exogenesis III', which Bolfrass believed to be his work.

Katy Perry: Katy Perry came under fire from US producer Dillon Francis, who claims she stole his video idea for her single 'Roar'. "Legitimately this is so dope that @katyperry's director thought my video was good enough to rip off," Dillon posted on Twitter, furious that Perry's video, featuring lyrics in text messages, was near identical his his track, 'Messages'.

Usher: The star was accused of plagiarism by Ernest Lee Straughter, who said that Usher's 2004 hit 'Burn' is ripping off Straughter's 1998 song 'Reasons'. Straughter went on to say that Usher would have had access to the song through Warren G, who had collaborated with both Straughter and Usher. However, Usher's camp denied all knowledge of the song.

Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen: Owl City wrote 'Good Time', which featured Carly Rae Jepsen, back in 2012... Or did they? Alabama singer-songwriter Allyson Nichole Burnett filed a lawsuit against them, alleging that her track 'Ah, It's a Love Song' shares "a catchy pop vibe that both draws people in and sticks in people's heads." She also insisted that they share the same "unique vocal motif".

Alicia Keys: Songwriter Earl Shuman claimed the singer used parts of his track without his permission, and filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against her. According to him, Keys' 'Girl On Fire' sounded too similar to his own song 'Hey There Lonely Girl', including parts where she actually sings a few couplets of the song, and uses an uncredited sample.

Leona Lewis: After Leona released her single 'Collide', UK label Ministry of Sound claimed that the song had stolen the beat of Avicii's track 'Penguin'. Despite Leona saying that Avicii was 'aware' of the use, Tim Bergling of Avicii tweeted afterwards, 'I didn't produce it and neither me or my manager could approve it.'

Pete Doherty: Poet Nick Toczek claimed that a line from his poem 'Stiff With A Quiff', written in 1983, was exactly the same as one which features in Babyshambles 'Baddie's Boogie', taken from their second album 'Shotter's Nation'. Doherty ended up paying Toczek £10,000 over the claims.

Taylor Swift: Swifty was accused of stealing lyrics from US star Matt Nathanson. The lyrics "And I forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to" from Swift's song 'All Too Well' were apparently just too similar to Nathanson's "And I'll forget about you long enough to forget why I need to." Swift was well known as a fan of Nathanson's, having previously written lyrics of his on her arm at concerts.

Lady Gaga: Rebecca Francescatti brought a lawsuit against Gaga accusing her of stealing elements of Franscatti's 1999 song 'Juda' to use in her hit, 'Judas'. Both artists worked with producer Brian Gaynor who is also being sued, according to Francescatti's lawyers. The lawsuit also uncovered text messages between Lady Gaga and producer RedOne, that show Gaga had also stolen another sample loop used in 'Judas' and later in Jennifer Lopez's 'Invading My Mind' without credit.

Frank Ocean: Earlier this year, Micah Otano brought a lawsuit against Frank Ocean, claiming that he stole his hit 'Lost'. Otano says that the track was originally called 'Daylight', and that he wrote it - not Ocean. Otano went on to claim that he co-wrote it with Ocean's producer Malay, who copied the track and renamed it before giving it to Ocean.

will.i.am: The founding Black Eyed Peas member got into hot water over allegedly stealing his new track 'Let's Go' from house producers Mat Zo and Arty. The song sounds almost identical in parts to the pair's song 'Rebound'. In fact, Will apparently approached the two about using it, but they declined. Still, Mat Zo was polite about it, saying, "To conclude, perhaps it is better to invest your energy into supporting 'Rebound' instead of spewing s**t at will.i.am and Chris Brown."

"'Take Me To Church'? Maybe Feist should take him to court!" We're quite sure Chilly Gonzalez was patting himself on the back for days after that one. His point, though, besides the hilarious play on words, was that Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' sounds remarkably similar to Feist's 'How Come You Never Go There'.

But Hozier isn't the only one who's fallen, wether accidentally, sub-consciously or deliberately, into the realms of accidental plagiarism. After all, there are only so many melodies and chord progressions from which to draw from, right? (Actually, there are probably many millions, but that's beside the point.)

From Muse taking an old idea and running with it to Alicia Keys sampling without permission, here's 12 artists who've been accused of musical theft in recent years.