Entertainment

Lady Gaga Just Denied Stealing The Song “Shallow” In A Statement From Her Attorney

by Jessica Wang
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A singer-songwriter has claimed that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's “Shallow” is stolen from a song he released seven years ago, according to attorneys for both sides. On the heels of these claims, Lady Gaga denied stealing the song “Shallow” in a statement from her attorney. As per a Page Six exclusive, musician Steve Ronsen has claimed that a series of notes from “Shallow” — the Oscar-winning track from Gaga and Cooper’s 2018 hit A Star is Born — used a “three-note progression” (specifically, the G, A, and B notes) from his 2012 song “Almost," which was published on SoundCloud in 2014.

Gaga's attorney Orin Snyder released the following statement to Bustle:

“Mr. Ronsen and his lawyer are trying to make easy money off the back of a successful artist. It is shameful and wrong. I applaud Lady Gaga for having the courage and integrity to stand up on behalf of successful artists who find themselves on the receiving end of opportunistic claims such as this. Should Mr. Shiran proceed with this case, Lady Gaga will fight it vigorously and will prevail.”

An insider close to Lady Gaga told Bustle that the singer is furious and will fight this claim to the end. Lady Gaga penned “Shallow” with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt for the Cooper-directed remake of A Star is Born. The song garnered Gaga her first Oscar win, as well as a Golden Globe win and several Grammy wins.

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Ronsen's discography includes a 2012 album titled Everything. He issued the following statement via his his attorney Mark D. Shirian:

It was brought to my attention by many people that the "Shallow" song sounds like mine. I did not seek this out, I haven't even seen the movie (I heard its pretty good.) I admire Lady Gaga and I just want to get to the bottom of this. There are other writers that wrote the "Shallow" song, including Mark Ronson. I have secured a musicologist who also agrees that the songs are similar. I am simply going about this how anyone else would to investigate any possible infringement.

In the Page Six report, Shirian also claimed that Lady Gaga’s legal team has yet to provide his office with an opposing musicologist report, one that was “requested multiple times” in efforts to “amicably resolve” the issue. Now, Snyder is refuting these claims in his statement sent to Bustle. Snyder said of the claims, “We provided Mr Shirian a lengthy letter with the findings of multiple leading musicologists, each of whom found no actionable similarities between the two songs. Even Shirian’s own musicologist acknowledged the generic three note progression is present in many other songs predating his client’s song.”

As per the report, Lady Gaga’s team has contended that the "common" three-note progression dates "back centuries" and can also be heard in the 1978 track “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. A lawsuit has not officially been filed by either side, so here's to hoping that both sides resolve the claim amicably.