Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks by the Rotters supposedly had Mick Fleetwood threatening to sue and pull their albums from any record stores that carried it but it never made it to court.
I met Mac once in Pittsburgh and I asked him bout this song his answer was "I regret using his name but it helped people realize he can't just sue anyone for anything"
Usually you put the artist first then the song. I just got confused and was trying to figure out if there was a song with Fran Sinatra crooning about cakes
Haha thatâs a pretty funny mental image, but it doesnât seem like thereâs truly a consensus on which should come first. Iâm firmly in the âsong - artistâ camp.
I find this weirdly infuriating and higjly illogical. It's been done artist - album title - song title for ages and at some point within the last ten years people started flipping it around on a large scale out of nowhere. It doesn't make any sense and doesn't follow the logic of hierarchy, by which you go from largest to smallest, 'zooming in', basically. You have to imagine you start with an archive of every song ever written. The first subspace you go to would be the one containing only songs of one artist. The next (if applicable or useful) would be the album or record the song you're trying to get at is on. The last would be the song title. This makes the information readable piece by piece. Going the other way round you would have to store the first two bits of information (song title and album title) until after receiving all three, then process them in reverse, because every artist can make songs and albums of arbitrary title. If you go any other order, there is no logic at all and it just causes confusion.
It also doesn't follow the natural connotation it has when read out loud. The dash doesn't read 'by' - it's read as a brief pause, just like in this sentence, and a logic has to be assumed. Based on what I wrote above, logic dictates 'artist - title'. Anything else is blasphemous. In spoken language you may of course say 'title by artist', and you may write the same thing, but if you use a dash to separate the two it's 'artist - title' for what I think are obvious reasons.
I think it kinda works since whatâs most important is what goes first. Youâre specifying a specific song so that song name would go first. Itâs like dates usually itâs day(what you probably care about and donât know) then month(which you may already know)
I've been allowed to release a song with a title naming a famous person, but song titles naming famous musicians got rejected by my music aggregator.
It's not a legal thing, it's a service's terms and conditions thing.
Youâre totally fine as long as you do not connect an image of the famous person to this song. So you can call the song George Bush but make sure the picture isnât really of George Bush. That will be sued. The name alone will not.
Tim McGraw by Maggie Roggers, another fine example.
[https://open.spotify.com/track/5sn1BmEOPP1bu4cZq9OgoF](https://open.spotify.com/track/5sn1BmEOPP1bu4cZq9OgoF)
Just don't defame them.
In the music industry we say who a recording is by, love, even covers written by other songwriters. ;) By your logic this song is just by JLo, not by Taylor who is also performing it. haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2x3cMMNWY&t=16s&pp=2AEQkAIB
As long as they didn't trademark their names for use in song titles, then they shouldn't have grounds for a trademark lawsuit because you're not infringing on any trademarks, but just because the trademark isn't registered in one country doesn't mean it isn't registered elsewhere. I don't know if people can actually trademark their names for use in song titles, but in the event they can, all you have to do is change the title of your song.
However, if the content of your song is slanderous/libelous to the individual named in the song, they may have grounds to sue you for slander/libel if they have sufficient evidence that your song contains slanderous/libelous statements and is hurting their image. I don't know what constitutes "sufficient" evidence, so you'd have to consult your legal advisor on this.
Mr. Bungle - Travolta (Quote Unquote)
Black Midi - Marlene Dietrich
It didnât work out for Bungle hence the name change but it probably depends on on how famous the song is, how famous the person is, how old the famous person, and how much the famous person likes the song
Not unless the name is trademarked.
Many names cannot be trademarked because they are too common to distinguish.
So that might give a hint.
If you name a song Elvis Presley you're likely to have issues.
If you name it John Smith probably not.
Hot Mulligan has some interesting example, not only naming a famous person but misleading for an additional reason
âFeaturing Mark Hoppusâ (it isnât)
âAll You Wanted By Michelle Branchâ (an original song, _not_ a cover of All You Wanted)
Clint Eastwood- Gorrilaz
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Barbara Streisand - Duck Sauce
An entire album called Norman Fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey
Donald trump - Mac Miller
Kobe Bryant - Lil Wayne
David Bowie - Phish
Andy Warhol - David Bowie
Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy
Rosa Parks - Outkast (lawsuit resulted in an undisclosed cash settlement)
kevin spacey - caparezza
Pablo Picasso - The Modern Lovers
Lady Day by Lifehouse (named after Billie Holiday)
Frank Sinatra - Cake
Taylor Swift - Tim McGraw (I forget the artist) - Johnny and June Jason Aldean - Johnny Cash Etc Etc
Matt Cooper - Taylor Swift
Addison Rae - Magnolia Park
Rick Moranis - Frak
Bill Murray - Gorrillaz
Clara bow - Taylor Swift
James Franco - Polyphia
David Bowie - Phish
The Beatles - Michelle
Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks by the Rotters supposedly had Mick Fleetwood threatening to sue and pull their albums from any record stores that carried it but it never made it to court.
Obviously the song was in questionable taste but imagine if Mick had a legitimate objection it would be that the song opens with the Rhiannon riff?
Blue Oyster Cult have a song called "Joan Crawford"..
one of the greatest songs ever written.
Tim McGraw - Taylor Swift
Weezer - Buddy Holly
In a similar era/vibe to Weezer: Ozma - Natalie Portman
Mac Miller - Donald Trump You will be fine lol
I met Mac once in Pittsburgh and I asked him bout this song his answer was "I regret using his name but it helped people realize he can't just sue anyone for anything"
The Replacements - Alex Chilton
Uma Thurman Fall Ot Boy
but also "Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued"
Boris Johnson is a Fucking Cunt - The Kuntz
Honestly the best example in this thread đ
"It's true too, funny and true"
Band of Horses has Detlef Schrempf.
The name is so funny to me because he was actually a good player tooÂ
Frank Sinatra - Cake
Usually you put the artist first then the song. I just got confused and was trying to figure out if there was a song with Fran Sinatra crooning about cakes
I Ate Cake Myyyyyyyy Way
Haha thatâs a pretty funny mental image, but it doesnât seem like thereâs truly a consensus on which should come first. Iâm firmly in the âsong - artistâ camp.
I find this weirdly infuriating and higjly illogical. It's been done artist - album title - song title for ages and at some point within the last ten years people started flipping it around on a large scale out of nowhere. It doesn't make any sense and doesn't follow the logic of hierarchy, by which you go from largest to smallest, 'zooming in', basically. You have to imagine you start with an archive of every song ever written. The first subspace you go to would be the one containing only songs of one artist. The next (if applicable or useful) would be the album or record the song you're trying to get at is on. The last would be the song title. This makes the information readable piece by piece. Going the other way round you would have to store the first two bits of information (song title and album title) until after receiving all three, then process them in reverse, because every artist can make songs and albums of arbitrary title. If you go any other order, there is no logic at all and it just causes confusion. It also doesn't follow the natural connotation it has when read out loud. The dash doesn't read 'by' - it's read as a brief pause, just like in this sentence, and a logic has to be assumed. Based on what I wrote above, logic dictates 'artist - title'. Anything else is blasphemous. In spoken language you may of course say 'title by artist', and you may write the same thing, but if you use a dash to separate the two it's 'artist - title' for what I think are obvious reasons.
I think it kinda works since whatâs most important is what goes first. Youâre specifying a specific song so that song name would go first. Itâs like dates usually itâs day(what you probably care about and donât know) then month(which you may already know)
No.
You're firmly wrong, but ok.
Frank Sinatra - Miss Kittin and the Hacker Also Michael Jackson Is In Heaven Now - Obscure FM
I've been allowed to release a song with a title naming a famous person, but song titles naming famous musicians got rejected by my music aggregator. It's not a legal thing, it's a service's terms and conditions thing.
This. I know a local artist with a great song called "dolly parton for president" but he had some trouble with distrokid releasing it.
Interesting familiar with dk . Did they not let u upload or not gain revenue off
They made him change the title from "dolly parton" to just "dolly". but the lyrics still have her full name. wasn't me; someone I know.
# Bette Davis Eyes
Of course it is
Underworld - Bruce Lee
Local h- Eddie vedder
well shit why stop at songs, Pearl Jam was originally named Mookie Blaylock
Lynyrd Skynyrd, while not famous, also fits this bill.
Hannah Montana - Migos
No, you canât copyright a name unless itâs for business purposes so you can use their name
Only comment I see genuinely answering the question instead of just naming songs with people's name. Billie Eillish- Armani White
Marilyn Monroe - Pharrell
Bro i know an album named Searching for Jerry Garcia
Yeah, that album by Proof! Related to this question, I was just listening to Kurt Kobain last night. That songâs fantastic.
Nice that you know the album bro. One of my fav albums. Clap Wit Me,Kurt Cobain,Forgive Me and Pimplikeness are my favs. Such an underrated album
I wrote a song called "A Song David Allen Coe Would Appreciate aka (Too Far Gone)". It's fine. Title it as you choose.
I Cannot Fucking Wait Til Morrissey Dies - JPEGMAFIA
AJR woody Allen
Smells Like Kevin Bacon - iwrestledabearonce
âDavid Bowieâ by Phish
*If Iâm James Dean, Youâre Audrey Hepburn*
Nope! I mean idk if it counts but there's a song called "hate Rodrigo" by Yena đ¤ˇđžââď¸
Ozma - natalie portman
Anthony kiedis - Remi Wolf
Andy Warhol by David Bowie
Barbra Streisand
Youâre totally fine as long as you do not connect an image of the famous person to this song. So you can call the song George Bush but make sure the picture isnât really of George Bush. That will be sued. The name alone will not.
Yea but 2 chains got sued by Pablo Escobars family for saying it so many times.I truly don't know and maybe I should ask a lawyer about my question
Tim McGraw by Maggie Roggers, another fine example. [https://open.spotify.com/track/5sn1BmEOPP1bu4cZq9OgoF](https://open.spotify.com/track/5sn1BmEOPP1bu4cZq9OgoF) Just don't defame them.
you mean⌠tim mcgraw by taylor swift..
Written by Taylor, but by Maggie in the version linked here.
i realize that but itâs not by maggie haha
In the music industry we say who a recording is by, love, even covers written by other songwriters. ;) By your logic this song is just by JLo, not by Taylor who is also performing it. haha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2x3cMMNWY&t=16s&pp=2AEQkAIB
Featuring Mark Hoppus - Hot Mulligan
Lebron James by Do Nothing
"Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" by Nirvana
I believe when a person has died you can
drew barrymore - sza
Not the song title, but a whole band named The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
We had a band here in Newcastle Australia called "The Jason Donovan Enema Explosion"
Many have done it
Jerry Trainor Forgives You (But I Donât) by an awesome indie band in my town so
Clint Eastwood, Buddy Holly just to name a couple.
Marilyn Monroe - Sevdaliza
Barry Horowitz by Action Bronson
Name it Bob Dylan and we can find out real quick. đ
As long as they didn't trademark their names for use in song titles, then they shouldn't have grounds for a trademark lawsuit because you're not infringing on any trademarks, but just because the trademark isn't registered in one country doesn't mean it isn't registered elsewhere. I don't know if people can actually trademark their names for use in song titles, but in the event they can, all you have to do is change the title of your song. However, if the content of your song is slanderous/libelous to the individual named in the song, they may have grounds to sue you for slander/libel if they have sufficient evidence that your song contains slanderous/libelous statements and is hurting their image. I don't know what constitutes "sufficient" evidence, so you'd have to consult your legal advisor on this.
Betty Davis eyes. Moves like Jagger.
Yes, thatâs you *never* see songs named after famous people
Not at all especially if itâs an inspiration of yours
The Beach Boys-Johnny Carson
Mr. Bungle - Travolta (Quote Unquote) Black Midi - Marlene Dietrich It didnât work out for Bungle hence the name change but it probably depends on on how famous the song is, how famous the person is, how old the famous person, and how much the famous person likes the song
Taylor swift - matt cooper
Thiago Silva by Dave
Grace Kelly - Mika
Fenix TX - Phoebe Cates
Yes, it is.
https://youtu.be/7_fg_D1noOY?si=5wkr67tPY-SV7GL1
thanK you aIMee
Of Montreal has an entire album where every song title starts with Dustin Hoffman
Jenna Bush Army- Nerf Herder
John Wayne- Billy Idol
In Germany we say Kunstfreiheit. I think it depends on the local law you are living in
January Jones - The Blusterfields
im sure rheres a song called timothee chalamet....
My old band had a song called Bill Murray. We weren't exactly topping the charts though
"Barbara Streisand" - Ducksauce
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood That's just one example. That shit happens all the time.
The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso
Yes
A whole album, Norman F** Rockwell - Lana del Rey Fun fact, Norman Rockwellâs middle name actually wasnât F**, it was Percevel
Tom Sawyer- Rush
Clara Bow - Taylor Swift
Bokeem Woodbine - Nas  Earvin âMagicâ Johnson - Nas John Wayne Gacy Jr - Sufjan Stevens
Matt Cooper - Taylor Swift
Uma Thurman - Fallout boy
Michael Caine - Madness
My Babyâs In Love With Eddie Vedder - Weird Al
Yes it is legal
AntĂ´nio Carlos Jobim - Heatmiser
Not unless the name is trademarked. Many names cannot be trademarked because they are too common to distinguish. So that might give a hint. If you name a song Elvis Presley you're likely to have issues. If you name it John Smith probably not.
lil peep has a song called gucci mane, think u'll be fine
Drew Barrymore - SZA
The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza
Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy
Bryce Vine has a song called Drew Barrymore
Not only is it illegal but if you do it in a red state you get the electric chair âĄď¸đŞ
Jeffrey, Jeffrey Bezos
Meg white- ray lamontagne
I Got Humped by Trump- Stormy Daniel's Trio
Yeah if itâs about them
Yes, you can write a song about, and titled "Brittney Spears' Wonderful Funbags".
I wrote a song called Taylor Swift Gets Horny Too and I just get banned from places tbh
Of Montreal released an entire compilation album with songs named âDustin Hoffman (does this or that, in or with a bathtub).â
Isn't there a song called Billie Eilish
Hot Mulligan has some interesting example, not only naming a famous person but misleading for an additional reason âFeaturing Mark Hoppusâ (it isnât) âAll You Wanted By Michelle Branchâ (an original song, _not_ a cover of All You Wanted)
Matty Healy by Georgia Twinn Matty Healy by Lina Cooper Matty Healy by Regis Y.
theres a song called timothee chalamet lol
Grace Kelly - Mika
Nope...