Apparently originality - like techno, frizzy bangs and baggy jeans - is a thing of the past.  Perhaps a by-product of this decade's obsession for "sampling", plagiarism is becoming a commonplace indulgence in the pop chart industry - just ask songwriter Dr Luke. 

Last year, the "composer" was famously accused of ripping off the Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" for the craptastic but popular Avril Lavine song "Girlfriend". After the matter was settled out of court, Dr Luke then decided his own ass was pretty hot, and decided to steal from himself. How? He reused the unique hook he created for the Veronicas song "4Eva" in the P!nk song "U + Ur Hand", much to the dismay of the cute Queensland twins.

And as the saying goes, once cheater always a cheater. It should come as no surprise that former American Idol Chris Daugherty is the next semi-known to have been slipped a mickey by Dr Luke. Arizonan rock band "The Asphalt" now claim that he also nicked the hook from their song "Tonight" in writing the brazen rip off "Feel's Like Tonight". Listening to the tracks, there can be no doubt.

Yet while artists such as the Veronicas vowed never to use the likes of Dr Luke again, none of these controversies appear to have deterred other artists from requesting his 'talents'. Everyone wants a hot track, after all ...why not literally? And even more compellingly, in this day and age, any publicity must be good publicity. This goes for both the (usually little-known) victims, as well as the famous clients of dodgy songwriters.

Interestingly, Dr Luke is not the only songwriter suffering a case of writers block. Plagiarism of this kind is as contagious nowadays as, say, the desire to take some 80s classic and add a rap and dance beat over the top (yawn). Snoop Dogg is another who also faces legal action, after songwriter Millennium Child claimed the Dogg breach copyright on his latest single "Sensual Seduction". Kanye West was recently accused of stealing the song "Good Life"from the album "Volume Of Good Life" by producer Dayna "D'Mystro" Staggs. Soulja Boy has been accused of stealing not only songs, but his whole damned persona from a little-known guy called Souljah Boy. Being the people's poets, you'd think they'd at least bother to change the words somewhat, wouldn't you?

But while all artists sample each other's sounds and even remake songs nowadays, most credible musicians usually credit the original creators. The theory goes that although imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, stealing is not. Still, the explosion of unoriginal hip hop, or perhaps the inevitable American genericism of pop culture of any strain, shows that musicality is less important than buzz when it comes to record sales. And in Hollywood, it's clear that you can be less than original, and still be a massive success.

by Stephen Mai 

Copyright : MTV New Zealand