Elton John and Bernie Taupin are being sued for substantial damages for copyright infringement over their 80s hit "Nikita", by a Mr Hobbs.
What's the story?
Hobbs claims that in 1982 he wrote a song about his experiences with a Russian waitress called "Natasha", centred around an impossible love affair between a Western man and a Russian woman during the Cold War. Sound familiar? Indeed. Well, according to the most reputable source going round, Nikita is actually about his crush on a beautiful East German border guard.
Hobbs does not make any claim in respect of the music of "Nikita", only the lyrics - the "literary work".
Hobbs' claim
Hobbs sent his lyrics to Big Pig Music (John/Taupin's music publishing company) in the hope they might like them and make him rich, but instead John & Taupin subsequently used substantial portions of his song about Natasha in the lyrics to "Nikita".
Substantially similar reproduction?
Copyright infringement occurs when there is a "substantial reproduction". What qualifies as "substantial" can vary from case to case. With musical works, it's quite tricky, but literary works such as lyrics are simpler because usually you can just make a visual comparison.
Unfortunately, we don't know the full lyrical content of "Natasha". However, Hobbs has claimed that the words "I need you" and "just" and "never" have been taken from "Natasha" and incorporated into "Nikita".
If this is all Hobbs is working with, he's going to have a hard time showing that John and Taupin substantially reproduced parts of "Natasha" in "Nikita".
It seems that Hobbs' real beef is that "Nikita" has a very similar theme to "Natasha". If that's it, he has no case.
We do not disclaim anything about this article. We're quite proud of it really.
