Tom Petty’s been given a songwriting credit for Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’

The resemblances between Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ and Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ have now been noted by law.

Initially, when the track came out in April last year, fans picked up on the similarities between Smith’s chart-topping ballad and Petty’s 1989 classic - according to The Sun, a case was settled out of court in October last year. As reported by Consequence of Sound, Petty and co-composer Jeff Lynne have been given a 12.5% writing credit. Other songwriters include Jimmy Napes and Will Philips aka Tourist.

“After it was pointed out to Sam’s camp, they didn’t try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged,” a source told the newspaper.

This isn’t the only legal issue to hit team Sam Smith of late - he’s been embroiled in a songwriting lawsuit where Disclosure are accused of stealing lyrics, including for ‘Latch’.

Listen to both Petty and Smith’s tracks below.

Update: A representative for Sam Smith has told Rolling Stone the likeness between these two songs is “a complete coincidence”.