All this talk about writer's credit and how the actual music doesn't count has me somewhat confused. Here's what I don't get:
- Vanilla Ice was sued by Queen over the use of one single simple bassline from their song "Under Pressure" in his song "Ice, Ice Baby."
- MC Hammer was sued by Rick James over using part of the music from "Superfreak" in "U Can't Touch This."
- Weird Al had to pay Coolio for using the music from "Gangsta's Paradise" in his parody "Amish Paradise."
In all three of these examples, the original songs were recognized by the courts as the original artists' property (and royalties were paid to the owner) based
soley on the music. Lyrics never even came into it! So tell me again how it is that the person who wrote the music of a song should not be given songwriting credit? I really believe that is incorrect.
Clarification: Not saying the person who wrote the music is the COMPLETE owner of the song but a co-owner, along with the originator of the lyrics.