Disney "Let it Go" Lawsuit: Think Again
by Susan Basko, Esq.
Disney's movie "Frozen" made famous the song, "Let it Go." The song was written by husband and wife songwriting team, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. This duo has written many of the famous Disney songs. A man named Jaime Ciero has filed a lawsuit claiming the Lopez songwriting duo copied a song he wrote in Spanish called "Volar," which was released in 2008.
Some people think the Lopez song does have similarities to the Ciero song. But, hold on a second! A while back, I was mildly swamped with people saying that "Let it Go" was stolen from their song! That got me to looking up other songs that sound very similar to "Let it Go," -- and there are quite a few. I won't post any of the songs from the different people that contacted me, but I will post some of the many that I found that also sound like "Let it Go."
My conclusion is that "Let it Go" is not a very original song, and that it became famous because it was in a terrifically famous and beloved Disney movie.
Listen to some of the songs below and see what I mean. (Remember you might have to get past the commercials on some of these. Please do!)
You can listen to the Disney "Let it Go" above and to Jaime Ciero's "Volar" just below:
From 1974, we have Eric Clapton's "Let it Grow." Pretty similar, huh?
"Let it Go," written by James Bay, covered here beautifully by Austin Precario:
Dave Mason, from 1978, "Let it Go, Let it Flow":
From 1995, "Let it Flow," by Spiritualized:
"Let it Go," Ziggy Marley:
"Let it Go," John Kee:
"Let it Flow," Gates Praise:
"Let it Flow," Toni Braxton:
A Korean song, "Let it Flow," 2006 video:
From 1976, "Let it Flow," Tamiko Jones:
en Vogue, "Let it Flow":
In fact, the Harry Fox songfile has about 100 songs titled, "Let it Go." The ones I have located tend to have lots of similarities to the Frozen song. Below are the songwriter names and file numbers for the listed songs titled "Let it Go."
Who copied whom? Or did no one copy anyone? I think a lilting chorus of "Let it go," or "Let it flow," or "Let it grow," or "Let it show" is going to sound similar in any context. In copyright, this might be known as "stock" or possibly as noncopyrightable material. In the world of music or art, this might be known as building upon a genre or tradition.
The Lopez/ Disney song is famous and financially successful, not because it has similar words or music to many of these other songs, but because it is in a super famous Disney movie.
"Let it Go" songs from Harry Fox Songfile, with songwriter names:
L24848
|
S. HOFF, D. PETERSON, V. PETERSON, M. STEELE
| |
L16365
|
STEVE TURRE
| |
L24859
|
JOSEPH ELLIOTT, RICHARD SAVAGE, RICHARD JOHN CYRIL ALLEN, PETER ANDREW WILLIS, STEPHEN MAYNARD CLARK
| |
L22269
|
TOM RUSSELL
| |
L1906O
|
IAN STANLEY, ROLAND ORZABAL, KIRK FRANKLIN
| |
L11742
|
JOHN P. KEE
| |
L09527
|
ANGELA STONE, G. DEVEAUX, C. MOLE
| |
L2011X
|
NICOLE ALBINO, NATALIE ALBINO, ELIJAH WELLS, LIONEL BERMINGHAM
| |
L01879
|
KYLE, RAMBEAUX, BLOOM
| |
L24855
|
LUBA KOWALCHYK
| |
L24854
|
DON COOK, RAFE VANHOY
| |
L16644
|
DAVID BURRILL
| |
1001RE
|
DAWN TALLMAN
| |
L16449
|
JERRY DOUGLAS, RONNIE BOWMAN
| |
L2318X
|
M. RAE, S. CHRISTIAN, D. BENOIT, E. WILCOX, R. ROBINSON
| |
L2445P
|
SCOTT BLASEY, GREG JOSEPH, DAVID MINARIK, ROBERT HERTWECK
| |
L24857
|
JOHN ROSS LANG, STEVEN P. GEORGE, RICHARD JAMES PAGE
| |
L24860
|
AKIRA TAKASAKI, MINORU NIIHARA, MASAYOSHI YAMASHITA, MUNETAKA HIGUCHI
| |
L08445
|
B. FLOYD, I. NEVILLE, C. DRAYTON
| |
L21699
|
K. MANTRONIK, J. FRANK
| |
L01739
|
GERALD DASH TUSO, CHRISTIAN FUHRER
| |
L2432P
|
LASHAWN AMEEN DANIELS, RODNEY JERKINS, KENNY PRATT, FREDDIE JERKINS
| |
L01537
|
TENDER FURY
| |
L1973M
|
JUSTIN SMITH, STEPHEN FISHER, DANIEL MURILLO, KRIS COMEAUX
| |
L2281M
|
GORDIE SAMPSON, BLAIR DALY, ALAN THOMAS DOYLE
| |
L24853
|
RICHARD RAYMOND FINCH, HARRY WAYNE CASEY
| |
L2456G
|
DAVE BASSETT, DANIEL CHRISMAN, GRAHAM PATRICK COLTON
| |
L24847
|
BILLY SMILEY, TOMMY SIMS, MARK GERSMEHL, RICK FLORIAN, GORDON KENNEDY
| |
L16398
|
M. MARTINEZ, SCOTT STORCH, TRACEY MOORE
| |
L01007
|
MIDGE URE
| |
L01842
|
GARY RAMON GIPPS, GARY RAMON
| |
L14744
|
T. FARAGHER, D. FARAGHER, B. HOWARD
| |
L2114K
|
GLENN HUGHES
| |
L1914D
|
ALONZO WANG, ROB WELLS, RUPERT GAYLE
| |
L23972
|
DURRELL BABBS, S. ANDERSON
| |
L2017N
|
S. MENDES, D. AMARO, S. NETO, R. POUNDS, N. WATTS, M. WATERS, B. AMARO, C. RODGES
| |
L00004
|
FULL FORCE
| |
L2276U
|
NICK BOLD
| |
L19624
|
D. LILES, R. ALTIZER
| |
L23088
|
JASON SELLERS, STEPHONY SMITH
| |
L18725
|
ZIGGY MARLEY
| |
L2221J
|
BEAN DOZIER, HOWIE DOROUGH, DAVID RYAN HARRIS
| |
L2301W
|
DANIEL ALEXANDER HAVERS, CHRIS PAGE
| |
L17447
|
PRIEST BROOKS, RICARDO BROWN
| |
L2337Y
|
TODD RONNING, MARKUS WOLFE
| |
L11169
|
BRAD, ANDY
| |
L2395L
|
GABRIEL RIOS
| |
L24850
|
M. SHARP
| |
L1923X
|
RUSSELL TAN, KIMBERLY DEL FIERRO-HUFFMAN
| |
L23431
|
EDWARD GREENEBAUM
| |
L11513
|
DOUG HAVERTY, ADRYAN RUSS
| |
L1962C
|
KENNETH NAVARRO
| |
L2268G
|
ALEXANDRA DENNY
| |
L24856
|
MICKEY NEWBURY
| |
L24865
|
BENNY DANCY, DAVE GUSSOM
| |
L24851
|
GREG SAGE
| |
L24849
|
KROKUS STORACE, VON ARB, KOHLER, VON ROHR, GRIVELLI
| |
L1921X
|
CHRISTIAN MOLLER NIELSEN
| |
L2134F
|
ANDY ANDERSON, JEFF ADAMS, RENEE JACKSON
| |
L2467D
|
FRED WILHELM, KEVIN FISHER
| |
L1964I
|
PATRICK M. LANDREVILLE
| |
L24846
|
AUSTIN CUNNINGHAM, THOM MCHUGH
| |
L24852
|
JERRY FOSTER, BILL RICE
| |
L2367Z
|
RICKY HANLEY, KURT RUSSELL
| |
L2395X
|
GEORGE TEREN III, JASON BLUME
| |
L24858
|
JERRY REED HUBBARD
| |
L00919
|
CHIP KINMAN, TONY KINMAN
| |
L2231C
|
DONNIE YALE, GYMMY THUNDERBIRD, FRANK BACKGAMMON, MURPHY UPSHAW
| |
L10991
|
KARON PENNING
| |
L2249S
|
MARK BENT, INGO NYAKAIRU, BOBBY ANDERSON, ANDY LOWE, ALAN AKEHURST
| |
L25190
|
JIMMY CLIFF
| |
L1927D
|
KAREN ASHE, GORDON DUKES
| |
L2108E
|
KEVIN VONDERHOFFEN, CHRIS GRAFFAGNINO, RONNIE FREEMAN
| |
L2231H
|
DAVID BALL, INGO VAUK, CHRIS BRAIDE
| |
L2418L
|
STEVE DIAMOND, REBEKAH RYAN
| |
L24861
|
JEFFREY DRESHER, DEIRDRE STEINSCHNEIDER
| |
L2546W
|
ARISU SATO, TAKASHI SHOUJI
| |
L1671I
|
GREG MATHIESON, RICK WHITFIELD
| |
L1999Q
|
ROBBI ROBB, RICHARD STUVERUD
| |
L2097H
|
LISA SIMMONS, CARSTEN SCHACK, KENNETH KARLIN, EDWIN SERRANO
| |
L2122C
|
MATTIAS HALLBOM, JAKOB LARSSON, EMIL STENSTROM, DAVID LOFQVIST, JOHANNES HALLBOM
| |
L2246S
|
SOLA ABDUL, GRAHAM KEARNS, MAGNUS HUBERT TWISLETON WYKEHA FIENNES
| |
L2247V
|
PAUL TAYLOR, JOCELYN GUERIDON
| |
L2260X
|
SANDRA NORDSTROEM, RICHARD ANDERSON
| |
L2296T
|
WARREN HUART, MIKE FLYNN, NIKKI FLORES
| |
L2334R
|
NICKOLAS G. CARTER, BRIDGET LOUISE BENENATE, MATTHEW GERRARD
| |
L23430
|
EDWARD GREENBAUM
| |
L2356R
|
DWAYNE NESMITH, PIERRE MEDOR, RICHARD PRESTON BUTLER
| |
L2389F
|
TANYA LEAH, BRIAN NASH, KEVIN PAIGE
| |
L2427O
|
SANDRO RUSSO, CECE ROGERS
| |
L24770
|
BRENDA RUSSELL
| |
L2516K
|
JUERGEN KRESCHEL, ROBERT MICHAEL NEUMANN
|