Old story ....but the last bit ? read it Universal? Princes new label ???

Court Rules Prince Plagiarized Italian Dance Tune
January 16th, 2009 8:30am EST Post a comment


An appeals court in Italy has ruled pop superstar Prince stole his "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" hit from two European songwriters. Officials at the Court of Appeal in Rome have decided the 1994 hit borrowed heavily from Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino's "Takin' Me to Paradise."

Under the ruling, Prince must stop distributing the song on Italian territory. He also faces having to pay the royalties he has so far accumulated to Bergonzi and Vicino and their publishers, but only if a final hearing confirms the Italian songwriting duo was plagiarized.

Bergonzi and Vicino's tune was a small European pop hit in 1983.

Bergonzi tells Billboard.com, "When we first heard Prince's song we immediately took action, but this case has been dragging on for 15 years and it isn't over yet, such is the slowness of the Italian legal system. We only decided to go public with our story now."

A court originally rejected the songwriters' claim in 2003.

For a sentence to become definitive in Italy, a "third degree" ruling is necessary.

Claudio Buja, the head of Prince's new label Universal Music Publishing in Italy WTF?, tells the website, "We are waiting to see the outcome of the third and final sentence. We're wary of making a comment at this stage, but I can say that plagiarism cases are invariably delicate and difficult."

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http://www.starpulse.com/..._italian_d

Prince's publishing deal has been with Universal for some considerable time.

That is different from a recording label.

Still haven't heard this damn other song

My "spending my holidays in Italy" times are over

i would Love to hear what the Italian court and the so called plaintiffs have as proof. i think someone is just trying to make money off of Prince. i know most of the world has heard of Prince, but who in the world are the 2 Italian guys. That alone should stand as proof for Prince being innocent. It should be thrown out of court, or at this point i say Prince should file for damages against his reputation.

I think the Italian courts need to get their ears checked.

As the 2 songs sound nothing like each other. Sure, the vocal melody on
the chorus shares the same 9 note refrain. But that's a pretty tenuous link
when everything else about the song isn't even remotely similar in any shape
or form. I'm sure you could find that same 9 note refrain in several songs
that predate both tunes.

It's laughable, especially considering the history of blatant copyright
infringement with regard to live bootleg releases in Italy over the years.

ReginaCarman said:

Girl, I hope you ain't plannin' on going to no law school! Lawwwd!
[Edited 1/17/09 17:28pm]

With music U are going 2 hear similarities...Every song can sound like another song on the set list of all songs...

What a crime.

Hey Uh...doesn't that one murder mystery movie about the kidnapping seem a little like that other murder mystery about the serial killer that left the country in a disqguise?
And doesn't that sad story about determination when U only have a few weeks to live seem just like that other story about determination?
And doesn't that one Porn flick slightly resemble the plot from that other one? Where are all the lawyers when U need them?

BorisFishpaw said:

Where have you heard that song ? I´ve been looking for it all over the internet just to hear and compare it but to no avail. It´s not on youtube, I´ve tried it with the song´s name and I also tried it with the names of those two individuals who claim that Prince stole from them but nothing came up.

you can listen to it here...Here

Joyinrepatition said:

Thanks.
The similarities, if you can even call them similarities,are minimal.
Now, if those folks think that that song sounds like a plagiarization, then I wonder why he didn´t get sued before ( for various other songs that sound a bit like Prince songs...Cream reminds me of a Marc Bolan song I can´t recall off the top of my head, then there´s always the Laid Back"White Horse" and Erotic City debate, or Journey´s "Faithfully" and Purple Rain). Not that those songs I mentioned are plagiarized but at least the similarities were more obvious than in this case.
I don´t think that Prince ever even heard that song in question before he wrote TMBGITW. It´s a coincidence.

Joyinrepatition said:

where is it then? sorry can't find it

Tremolina said:

scroll down a bit, it is in of the the postings

.
[Edited 1/18/09 11:08am]

Are they serious?


Are we talking about the same two songs?

Sdldawn said:

Well, I think there IS a very small similarity but nothing really obvious, and not at all similar enough to warrant a lawsuit. Sounds more like a coincidental similarity, IMO. The chorus vaguely resembles TMBGITW but you would really have to know that beforehand and concentrate on it to hear any similarity. I find the lawsuit ridiculous and can´t understand how those folks could win.
It´s ridiculous.

Oh My God! Prince, the serial plagariser! He did, after all, nick bits of 'Could It Be Magic' for Planet Earth... poor Barry... how will he ever cope being molested in this way?

It sounds like it a lil..but you have to listen really hard to hear it.

Is this song SUPPOSED to be sped up like the Chipmunks?

I followed that link, and the song the guy had posted in his thread was sped up super fast, and in that incarnation, it didn't sound anything like 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.'

*at all*

So...

1) Is it supposed to be that speed?
2) If not, does anyone have a link to a version that doesn't sound like Simon and Theodore should be singing backup?

And, can I just say - the RIDICULOUS OBSCURITY OF FINDING THIS SONG alone casts much doubt on Prince ripping it off.

How many of us have been searching, just trying to get a listen to this thing, and have been completely unsuccessful?

Screw the Italians.

On one hand you've got one of, if not *the* most prolific artists in the history of music of the last century and on the other some gray-haired Italian guy who none of us have heard of.

I'm just going to have to side with Prince on this one.

Was this song even released outside of Europe?

Does anybody really care about italian dance tunes except Italians??
[Edited 1/19/09 15:40pm]

Dayclear said:

Not to offend, but hell no

Anyone?

Is this track supposed to be sped up like this?

Dayclear said:

Well, Sonny and Michael do, or at least they did.

bleutuna said:

Are you listening to the correct track?
It's in the fourth "box" down from the top.
It's sounds like early techno to me, not "disco".
And the chorus's melody vaguely resembles Prince melody for the verses of TMBGITW. I think P should tell the Italian courts to go fuck themselves and just stay out of their country for the rest of his life. He won't be missing much anyway. They don't deserve a fucking penny.

dseann said:

AAAAH! Must have been my work computer.

Just heard it now.

The chorus is...sorta similar? I guess? I mean, I would *never* have heard it and thought, 'Oh wow, that's The Most Beautiful Girl in the World!' but, if I TRY, I can sorta fit in the words. Kinda.

:\
[Edited 1/19/09 18:14pm]

dseann said:

Well. Prince DID avoid Italy from 1988 to 2002, you probably remember that he got into trouble there before. Too bad that this comes up now. I´m sure he has a big fanbase there.

KoolEaze said:

They can always commute to France or something.