Copy-Cat Sam

Recent Grammy winner and much-loved singer/songwriter Sam Smith was accused this year of plagiarizing one of his hit songs. The accuser is singer/songwriter Tom Petty and the target is “Stay With Me.” Petty claims that Smith’s song shows striking similarities with his 1989 song “I Won’t Back Down.”

Smith’s argument was that he had never heard the song before, and therefore did not plagiarize in any way. In an interview with CBC, he said, ”It was a complete accident. I am only 22 years old… I’ve never heard that song before.”

However vicious this accusation may seem, Smith said that Tom Petty spoke personally with him about the matter. “It was never a malicious thing. And we tried to deal with it in a very classy way,” he said.

In fact, Petty actually spoke out publically on his website, with 100% of his statement being friendly. “All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all,” he said.

However friendly the transaction, Smith is still seeing consequences. Tom Petty will receive a 12.5 percent royalty on “Stay With Me.” In other words, Petty will get 12.5% of any future earnings on the song.