The Man Sued for Sounding Like Himself

John Fogerty was the voice, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the biggest bands of the late 1960s and early '70s. Songs like "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Run Through the Jungle" defined an era.

But Fogerty didn't own any of it. The rights to every CCR song belonged to Fantasy Records and its owner, Saul Zaentz. When CCR dissolved, Fogerty walked away with his talent but none of his catalog.

In 1985, Fogerty released a solo album with the hit "The Old Man Down the Road." Zaentz listened to it and decided it sounded suspiciously similar to "Run Through the Jungle" — a song Fogerty himself had written for CCR years earlier.

Zaentz sued Fogerty for copyright infringement. The accusation, stripped to its essence: John Fogerty had plagiarized John Fogerty.

The case went to trial in 1988 in a San Francisco federal court. In one of the more memorable moments in music litigation history, Fogerty picked up a guitar in the courtroom and played both songs for the jury, demonstrating their differences note by note.

The jury deliberated for just two hours before finding in Fogerty's favor. He had not, they concluded, plagiarized himself.

But the story didn't end there. Fogerty had spent over $1 million defending himself and wanted his legal fees back. That fight went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. (1994), the Court ruled unanimously that prevailing defendants in copyright cases are entitled to recover attorney's fees — a landmark decision that still protects creators today.

Zaentz never apologized. He continued to control the CCR catalog until his death in 2014. Fogerty didn't perform his own CCR songs live for nearly two decades because of the legal cloud hanging over his right to play music he wrote.