Crossovers can occur between multiple songs, and it’s not new in the music industry. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is a deliberate act of lifting the parts of a song. American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish’s hit track ‘Bury A Friend’ resembles the famous song of the 1960s ‘People Are Strange’ by the rock band ‘The Doors’.

Is it difficult to decipher the act of plagiarism?
In the music industry, ripping off is a gloomy subject, and it isn’t easy to decode whether an act of lifting has occurred on purpose or is it a mere coincidence. But that doesn’t matter, as the artist can be sued irrespective of an indeliberate act of borrowing from another song.

There have been several such incidents in the past. For instance, English musician George Harrison was accused of lifting the parts of the song ‘He’s So Fine’ by The Chiffons for his ‘My Sweet Lord’ track. After many years of rumbling over the case, the musician was found guilty of ‘subconscious plagiarism’ and was ordered to reimburse USD 1.6 million. This incident had a debilitating impact on his career as his love for music eventually fell out.

Likewise, in Eilish’s case, the track would not be deliberately plagiarised. As per SongFacts, Eilish unveiled that the idea for her song ‘Bury A Friend’ came from the perspective of the monster (sleep paralysis) lying under her bed.