Radiohead’s publishers deny filing lawsuit against Lana Del Rey

The plot thickens - after Lana Del Rey claimed that Radiohead have filed a lawsuit against her, Radiohead’s publishers have said the complete opposite.

Recent reports suggested that Lana Del Rey had been sued for copyright infringement due to musical similarities between Radiohead’s 1993 song ‘Creep’, and ‘Get Free’ from Lana’s recent album. The singer also claimed that Thom Yorke and co. were demanding 100% of the publishing, and later added that the track may be removed from her album as a result of the dispute.

Now a representative from Radiohead’s publishing company Warner/Chappell has piped up on the issue, giving a statement to Pitchfork that says… well, the exact opposite.

“As Radiohead’s music publisher,” they said, “it’s true that we’ve been in discussions since August of last year with Lana Del Rey’s representatives. It’s clear that the verses of “Get Free” use musical elements found in the verses of “Creep” and we’ve requested that this be acknowledged in favour of all writers of “Creep.” To set the record straight, no lawsuit has been issued and Radiohead have not said they “will only accept 100%” of the publishing of “Get Free.”

Incidentally, ‘Creep’ was also involved in a lawsuit upon its release in the early ’90s, for similarities to The Hollies’ 1972 track ‘The Air That I Breathe’. The track’s songwriters gained a percentage of royalties for the song moving forward.