Apparently the similarities in the chorus of 'Stay With Me' by Sam Smith (who he?) to 'I Won't Back Down' were noticed by Tom Petty's publishers, so Petty & Lynne are now listed as 2 of the 5 songwriters;
 

 

 
 
 

wow... I had to google this to see if it was a joke or not. So those three notes can't ever be used again?

This is a ^*& outrage to me! Those (*(((T%%) will end up claiming every word and syllable of the English language as their own. The sickening part is the (%^## that get the money have nothing to do with writing the music and or songs!  

Smith pretty much rips it straight off from the melody to the phrasing of Petty's tune. Might have been unintentional, but you still can't do that.

When I do it I mangle it so bad that no one could ever determine where it came from.
 
Simples.

Could it be that "Stay With Me" has sold over 4-Million copies? Could it be Petty and Lynne need money? National Enquirer please investigate.

What a case of hogwash. They are two different songs. Period. Different feel, tempo. Other than the same short lyric phrase, two totally different songs. I hate this type of legal 'petty'ness.

Ill do you one better, last night on Austin City Limits I heard a singer by the name of Bryan Adams
I first thought Tom Petty  and his band were  hiding behind the stage playing and singing.
this guys vocals AND music(chords, structure, tonality) are a direct ripoff of Tom Petty

KenB123
 
Could it be Petty and Lynne need money?

 
I'm going to go with 'no'

jamesg1213

KenB123
 
Could it be Petty and Lynne need money?

 
I'm going to go with 'no'

+no

If it was just a few notes, I doubt Smith would have just rolled over like he did and gave up 12.5% of the publishing. The whole chorus is a slower tempo direct copy of the Petty song.
 
Randy