Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams Accused of Copying “Spark the Fire” Chorus
Few music lovers would draw a parallel between Gwen Stefani’s music and that of a band like Korn — but that’s exactly what a complaint filed Thursday in Colorado federal court seeks to do.
Richard Morrill is suing Stefani, her company Harajuku Lovers, Pharrell Williams and Interscope Records, claiming “Spark the Fire” infringes on his rights in a 1996 song called “Who’s Got My Lightah.” (He also created a derivative of his own work in 2009 called “Who’s Got My Lighter.”)
Morrill is a singer-songwriter who was formerly in the late-’80s funk metal band L.A.P.D. — which is now known as Korn — but, in 1997 and 1998, he was a hairstylist in Huntington Beach.
He says Stefani, then the 20-something lead singer for No Doubt, came into his salon. Morrill claims he played his song for Stefani while he was coloring and styling her hair, she liked it and he gave her a CD containing it.
Nearly two decades later, Morrill is claiming that Stefani and Williams copied the chorus from his song when writing “Spark the Fire.”
He says he discovered the infringement when his friend saw Stefani and Williams perform the song…