KATY PERRY‘s "California Gurls" attacked by legal reps of the BEACH BOYS.
Reps of the sixties surfside six band are threatening pop thrush Katy for including the line "I wish they all could be California Girls" in her song "California Gurls".
Rondor Music, which retains the rights to the Beach Boys song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, has fired the first shot in a potential legal war.
"Rondor Music has sent a letter to Capitol, saying Katy has cribbed one of the most famous lyrics in history, so Love and Wilson should be entitled to a writing credit and a portion of the royalties," a source told the NY Post.
The line is said by Snoop Dogg at the end of the song which has sold 3 million copies and downloads to date and is not sampled from the original Beach Boys recording.
So is it homage or rip-off?
Mike Love claims the lawsuit was Rondor’s idea – not he and Wilson’s.
"Her creative part, her musical part, is pretty hooky. I think it brings the Beach Boys’ 1965 classic to mind, that’s for sure," Love told music industry track sheet Billboard.
And Wilson told the LA Times, "I love her vocal. The melody is infectious."
Ironically, it was Capitol Records that first released the Beach Boys.
Stay tuned . . .
