THE "MY SWEET LORD"/"HE'S SO FINE" PLAGIARISM SUIT
by Joseph C. Self
[ This article was first published in The 910 magazine in 1993. It is being reprinted here with the permission of Doug Sulpy, editor of The 910, and with the author's permission. It has not been updated, except to move the "footnotes" in the original article to "endnotes." These are designated by "(footnotes #)". This article is copyrighted by Joseph C. Self, 1993 and The 910, 1993. All rights reserved. In the words of the author, reproduction without the express written consent of major league baseball . . . wait, I think I goofed up on this part! ]
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In an interview published in the November 27, 1992 issue of Goldmine magazine, George Harrison stated that the events that occurred during the litigation of a claim that he had plagiarized the melody for his worldwide smash hit, "My Sweet Lord" from a hit single from 1963 called "He's So Fine" would fill a book. Maybe so, but this article is designed to boil down what happened in the court proceedings to a concise and understandable account of several years of litigation.
As with my prior article on the Lennon-Levy suit, I have gone to what I consider the primary source for my information: the written opinions published by the courts that passed judgment on the facts presented to it. (footnote 1) The court had to decide if Harrison had infringed the copyright of "He's So Fine" (or HSF) in composing "My Sweet Lord" (or MSL) and if so, then a determination as to the damages due to the holder of the copyright would have to be made.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/mysweet.htm
