Under copyright law, a work is an “original work,” therefore copyrightable upon creation, if one did not copy it from another work. Thus, technically, one can make a song that is exactly the same as an existing song without infringing the copyright of the existing song if one did not copy the existing song. However, in the music industry, artists will credit or ask for a license to sample or interpolate an existing work, to avoid possible lawsuits. (Especially after Thicke and Pharrell lost their copyright lawsuit for the “Blurred Lines”).
In 1977, The Rolling Stones gave credit to k.d. lang for their song “Anybody Seen My Baby” when the song was created independently. Keith Richards was playing the song, before the release, in front of his daughter who caught the similarity between k.d. lang’s “Constant Craving” and “Anybody Seen My Baby.” Keith Richards co-credited k.d. lang.
In 2017, Taylor Swift asked to credit Fred Fairbrass, Richard Fairbrass, and Rob Manzoli – who wrote the 1991 hit “I’m Too Sexy”- as co-songwriters on her song “Look What You Made Me Do.” Two songs share the same rhythmic pattern.
Law in Style. 