Stefani's former hairdresser, Richard Morrill, is seeking a portion of the song's profits, claiming the singers stole the lyrics of a song he wrote in 1996.
- January 14, 2017
AceShowbiz -
Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams are being sued for copyright infringement over Stefani's song "Spark the Fire", which was co-written by Williams in 2014. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Richard Morrill, who filed his suit in federal court in Colorado on Thursday, January 12, is suing Stefany's company Harajuku Lovers and Interscope Records in addition to Stefani and Williams personally.
Morrill, who was a singer/songwriter in the late-'80s funk metal band L.A.P.D, says in his suit that he played his group's song "Who's Got My Lightah" for Stefani back in 1998 while he was coloring and styling her hair. He goes on claiming that she liked the song, so he gave her a CD with the song on it. In addition, Morrill created a derivative of the song in 2009 called "Who's Got My Lighter".
Nearly two decades later, Morrill discovered the infringement when his friend saw the singers performing the song on "The Voice" in 2014. Morrill claims that the lyrics to the chorus are substantially similar to his own.
The suit claims the lyrics to "Who's Got My Lighter" song read, "Who's got my lightah? Who got the fire? Who's got my lightah? Who's got my little lightah?" with "fire" is pronounced "fi-ya." Meanwhile, the lyrics to "Spark the Fire" read, "Who got the lighter? Let's spark the fire/ Who got the lighter? Let's spark the fire" with "fire" is pronounced "fi-ya."
In his legal documents, Morrill also claims the rhythm, melody and background music in the chorus is "almost identical" to his own, and the songs are sung in the same key. He is suing all the defendants for direct and contributory copyright infringement, Williams and Interscope for vicarious copyright infringement, and Stefani for civil theft. TMZ reports that Morrill is seeking a portion of the $25 million Stefani allegedly made thanks to the song.
