Famous Artists

That Covered

Someone Else's

Song

CAUTION

License Needed

Licensing A Song

• There are many examples of artists

that have used another artist’s song

and made it their own. This is 100%

legal as long as the proper steps are

taken.

• The new artist must get permission

from the original artist and get the

proper license to perform that song.

This is called a public performance

license.

• The new artist must also receive a

special license, called a mechanical

license, from the copyright owner,

which is usually held by the artist

and publisher.

Famous Cover Songs

Original Artist: Nine Inch Nails

• Johnny Cash played and

recorded a cover of the Nine

Inch Nails’ song “Hurt” in 2002.

• Johnny Cash revised the song,

changed some of the words, and

played it acoustically in his own

unique style.

• He needed a mechanical license

to record it.

‘I Love Rock & Roll’

• If you have ever listened to a classic rock

radio station or grew up in the 80’s, you

have heard this epic rock anthem.

• Truth is, it was not originally written by

Joan Jett!

• Joan Jett recorded the new version of this

anthem in 1981.

Original Artist: Arrows

(A 70’s British Rock Band)

Hey Joe, I Took Your Song!

• Everyone has heard the song “Hey Joe” by

Jimi Hendrix. He recorded it in 1966 for his

iconic album, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

• But has anyone heard the song “Hey Joe”

by the original artist, The Leaves?

• The earliest known recording was done in

1965 by The Leaves, but made famous and

iconic by Jimi Hendrix.

Original Artist: The Leaves

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

• The world famous song, “RESPECT” by

Aretha Franklin, is actually not her

original song.

• “Respect” was actually written and

recorded by Otis Redding in 1965.

• Two years later in 1967, Aretha

Franklin licensed the song and made

it famous.

Original Artist: Otis Redding

And I, Will Always Love You…

• Whitney Houston’s EPIC ballad from

the movie soundtrack, The

Bodyguard, was actually not her

original song.

• It was originally recorded as a

country song by Dolly Parton in

1974.

• Whitney Houston’s version of the

ballad was released in 1992.

Original Artist: Dolly Parton

“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” • If you were a young girl growing

up in the early 80’s, you probably

remember dancing to this

American hit single.

• However, this ‘rock chick’ anthem

was actually written by a man!

• Robert Hazard is the original

artist of this American girl

anthem, as he recorded it in 1979.

Original Artist: Robert Hazard

Contact Us

Phone: +44 (0) 207 592 1710

Website: www.ricall.com

Ricall, one of the world’s

largest internet-based music

licensing and research

platforms, was created in

1998. There mission is to

remove the hassle from

licensing music for

productions of any size.

Johnny Cash Image: Page 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johnny-

Cash_1972.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47686431@

N04/4399081211

Joan Jett Image: Page 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jett_Rock

s.jpg

Jimi Hendrix Image: Page 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jimi_hen

dryx_experience_1968.JPG

Aretha Franklin Image: Page 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aretha_Fr

anklin.png

Image Attribution Whitney Houston Image: Page 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:

Whitney_Houston_Welcome_Ho

me_Heroes_1_cropped.jpg

Cindy Lauper Image: Page 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C

yndi_Lauper2_cropped.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/469833

48@N00/2577828111

https://creativecommons.org/licenses

/by-sa/2.0/