Mariah a song-swiper
Popster diva Mariah Carey has been accused of ripping off a few things in her lifetime: First, it was Whitney Houston; more recently, it has been most of her clothes. But two songwriters claim Carey is guilty of another blatant rip-off: stealing a song they wrote for the R&B group Xscape. Now, they're suing her for copyright infringement.
Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell claim in a federal lawsuit that the tune "Thank God I Found You," from Carey's 1999 multiplatinum album, Rainbow, sounds eerily like a song they wrote in 1997 called "One of Those Love Songs," which they sold to SoSo Def Recordings. The tune later appeared on Xscape's 1998 album, Traces of My Lipstick.
While Carey's lyrics are different from "One of Those Love Songs," the tracks' slow, manufactured pop beats have their similarities. But for Swirsky (whose songwriting credits include Taylor Dayne's "Tell It to My Heart" and "Prove Your Love") and Campbell (who has written songs for Dru Hill and Shanice), the similarities are too close - not only with the tracks themselves, but with the people who produced them.
Among the coincidences: Jermaine Dupri served as a producer for both albums (which were both released by Columbia), and both songs were mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering. While Carey's song lists Terry Lewis, James Harris III and Carey as the songwriters, Campbell and Swirsky say the song was plagiarized.
"I'm a fan of Mariah Carey; this is nothing personal against her," Swirsky says. "But I really do believe there's accountability, and it's very clear what happened here. I've never sued anybody before."
Swirsky and Campbell's suit charges Carey, Lewis and Harris with copyright infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition and "reverse passing off." The suit seeks unspecified damages, including profits from the hit song. Neither Columbia Records nor Carey's camp are commenting on the lawsuit. (E! Online)
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