LONDON -- The boys in the band have banded together to denounce what they see as a wave of unfounded plagiarism claims against successful composers.
Variety says Mick Jagger, Elton John, Stephen Sondheim, Sting, Barry Gibb and Phil Collins have endorsed a letter composer Tim Rice wrote to the Daily Telegraph.
Faced with a growing number of spurious plagiarism and copyright infringement claims, songwriters often have found it easier and cheaper to settle with their accusers than to defend against the cases in court, Rice wrote.
"Any creator of an original tune or lyric should have recourse to legal defence in the event of theft or copying of his work. But this privilege is increasingly being seriously abused," Rice wrote. "Many unknown songwriters have been able to bring the full force of the law against the writer of a hit song, simply because he or she is able to employ a lawyer prepared to accuse a hit-maker of plagiarism for the promise of a fee if they win."
Rice's letter was published the day after a New York court cleared composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rice's partner in hit productions such as Evita, of copyright infringement allegations brought by another composer.
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