Musicians Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams Sued for Copyright Infringement

Richard Morrill, a singer-songwriter/hairstylist who was once a member of the band L.A.P.D, filed a copyright infringement complaint against musicians and judges from The Voice Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams on January 12^th, 2017, claiming the chorus from their 2014 song “Spark the Fire” is a copy of his 1996 song “Who’s Got My Lightah.” Morrill owns sound recording copyrights for “Who’s Got My Lightah” and “Who’s Got My Lighter,” which were both registered with the U.S. Copyright Office on October 16^th, 2016.

L.A.P.D. was a metal band that was only active from 1989-92 (some members later formed the band Korn), but Morrill alleged that in 1997 Stefani visited the Huntington Beach Beauty Supply in Huntington Beach, California, and he styled her hair. The following year, she let Morrill style her hair again at the Splash Hair Salon. It was during this second visit with him that Stefani heard “Who’s Got My Lightah,” and Morrill gave her a copy of it. He also said in the complaint that he recorded both of his songs and uploaded them to MySpace. Stefani is a solo act now, but during the years Morrill named in his complaint, she was the lead singer of the alt rock band No Doubt. Morrill never alleged that she ever used any portion of the song in the sixteen years before “Spark the Fire,” which Williams co-wrote and produced. In December 2014, a friend sent Morrill a clip from The Voice and that was when he heard the alleged similarities.

In the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Morrill described “Spark the Fire” as being substantially similar to “Who’s Got My Lightah” and “Who’s Got My Lighter.” The chorus in “Who’s Got My Lightah” goes:

Morrill pointed out that “fire” is pronounced as “fi-ya” in that version. In “Spark the Fire,” the chorus is: Who got the lighter? Let’s spark the fire. Who got the lighter? Let’s spark the fire. The word “fire” is also pronounced “fi-ya” here. Beyond the lyrics, Morrill asserted that “Spark the Fire” had a nearly identical rhythm and melody to his songs.

Morrill is suing Stefani, Williams and Interscope Records on four claims: direct copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, and civil theft under Colorado law. On the direct copyright infringement claim, Morrill said Stefani, Williams and Interscope all had access to his songs and created a derivative work in “Spark the Fire.” On the contributory copyright infringement claim, Morrill stated “each individual Defendant has actual knowledge that producing and incorporating Richard’s works would violate Richard’s right in the copyrighted property or had reason to know that producing the Accused Song would violate Richard’s rights in the copyrighted property.” On the vicarious copyright infringement claim, Morrill accused Williams of having control over the creation of the song and not properly supervising Stefani. On the civil theft claim, Morrill reiterated that Stefani copied, used or created a derivative work without his permission, with the intent of depriving him of his rights.

Williams was also a party in one of the most closely watched copyright cases in recent memory during a legal battle with Marvin Gaye’s estate over the song “Blurred Lines,” which Williams produced. A jury awarded the estate $7.4 million last August, but the amount was subsequently reduced to $5.3 million. The case is currently on appeal.

For more information on copyright infringement, please contact The Fried Firm.