Radiohead Publisher Refutes Lana Del Rey’s Lawsuit Claims

Following Lana Del Rey’s Twitter announcement claiming that Radiohead was suing her for copyright infringement over the similarities between her single “Get Free” and Radiohead’s own “Creep,” a spokesperson for Radiohead’s publisher (Warner/Chappell) has now refuted those claims, contending that no legal action has yet been taken by the band.

On Jan. 7, Del Rey tweeted that Radiohead had asked for 100 percent of the publishing from her single, even going so far as to call the band’s lawyers “relentless,” and claiming that the band had refused her offer of 40 percent, saying that they would “only accept 100.”

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.

— Lana Del Rey (@LanaDelRey) January 7, 2018

Later that evening, during Del Rey’s concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., the singer warned fans that the legal action being taken by Radiohead could result in the removal of the single from future copies of her latest album, Lust for Life. (Rey was recorded by an audience member at the Denver show—the video is included below.) The crowd sounded in support of her, as she appeared to be struggling to hold back tears as she spoke to the crowd about the ongoing situation, saying:

Regardless of what happens in court, the sentiment that I wrote in that particular song, which was my statement song for the record, my personal manifesto … Regardless, if it gets taken down off of everything, that those sentiments that I wrote, I really am still going to strive for them, even if that song is not on the future physical releases of the record.

The singer expressed this sentiment just before performing “Get Free” in a medley.

A spokesperson for Warner/Chappell has now contradicted Del Rey’s statements, claiming that while their lawyers had been in contact with Del Rey’s team over the track, no legal action had yet been taken. The spokesperson wrote in a statement (per Pitchfork):

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.”

Whether Del Rey jumped the gun in announcing the lawsuit, or whether she plans to initiate a lawsuit of her own against Radiohead is still unclear. As of now, no further statements have been made by either side in regards to the situation. Paste will continue to follow this ongoing story as it unfolds. In the meantime, listen to a 1995 Radiohead performance of the song at the heart of all this via the Paste Cloud player below.