''Thank God I Found You'' was a hit for Mariah Carey in 1999. Now, she can also thank a federal judge, who ruled last week that she did not plagiarize the song, the Associated Press reports. The ruling in Carey's favor ends a lawsuit filed by songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell, who filed a complaint two years ago that said the Carey track was a copy of one of their songs.
The composition of ''Thank God,'' which appeared on the singer's ''Rainbow'' CD and on a cassette single, is credited to Carey and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She recorded it in collaboration with boy band 98 Degrees and R&B singer Joe, who included a remix of the song on his 2000 debut CD, ''My Name is Joe.'' Swirsky and Campbell claimed the song stole from their composition, ''One of Those Love Songs.'' But U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder said there was a ''lack of melodic similarity between the two songs.'' She said she failed to find any ''similiarity in key, harmonic structure, tempo, or genre'' between the songs.
Carey's next album is due Dec. 10. It will be the first album on her new MonarC imprint, the product of her signing earlier this year with Universal's Island/Def Jam group after being dropped by Virgin in the wake of ''Glitter'''s flop. The new record will feature more songs cowritten by Carey, Jam, and Lewis.
You Might Also Like
- Music Review Rainbow | Danyel Smith
- Music Review Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) | Jim Farber
- Music News Kid Rock dominates the music charts
- Music News Your iPod's summer playlist hits | Leah Greenblatt
- The Music Biz Mariah or Madonna: Who wins? | Tim Stack
