Garbage, its former label, Almo Sounds, and its various publishing companies have been sued by Helios Music Corp. for copyright infringement and violation of the Lanham Act over the song “I Think I’m Paranoid.”
The suit, filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California claims that Garbage’s “I Think I’m Paranoid”, a hit from the band’s last album, Version 2.0, infringes upon American Breed’s 1967 hit, “Bend Me, Shape Me”.
The suit, which also names Rondor Music International, Almo Music Corp., Deadarm Music, Irving Music, and Vibecrusher Music as defendants, claims that the Garbage song “contains significant elements of both music and lyrics willfully taken from plaintiff’s song, without plaintiff’s authority, license or consent, nor is credit given to the writers and Helios as the publisher of plaintiff’s song thereby confusing the public as to the true creators and owners of the infringing song.”
There is no mention of “I Think I’m Paranoid” being written by anyone other than Garbage in the liner notes to the 1998-released album.
American Breed’s “Bend Me, Shape Me” won a BMI award in 1968 and spent 12 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart, beginning Dec. 12, 1967. It’s also the title track to a greatest-hits compilation of the band, Bend Me, Shape Me: The Best of the American Breed, which was released in 1994.
Helios is seeking statutory or compensatory damages, including infringers’ profits, according to proof at a jury trial.
