Radiohead's music publisher denies lawsuit claims

Radiohead
Radiohead (Image credit: Getty)

Radiohead’s music publisher Warner/Chappell has issued a statement denying the existence of a lawsuit against Lana Del Rey.

The American singer-songwriter claimed in a tweet earlier this week that she was facing legal action from the the band over similarities between her song Get Free and Radiohead’s 1992 track Creep.

She said: “It’s true about the lawsuit. Although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead feel it was and want 100% of the publishing.

“I offered up to 40 over the last few months but they will only accept 100. Their lawyers have been relentless, so we will deal with it in court.”

Now, Warner/Chappell have issued a statement disputing Rey’s claims.

It reads: “As Radiohead’s music publisher, 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.”

Radiohead were successfully sued by songwriters Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood over Creep’s similarity to The Hollies’ 1974 track The Air That I Breathe. As a result, both Hammond and Hazlewood are now listed as co-writers.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.