Melody Makers

George Harrison claimed he had never even heard Ronnie Mack's "He's So Fine", let alone consciously thought about it, when he was writing "My Sweet Lord" in 1969. "My Sweet Lord" went on to be the highest selling single of 1971 and saw Harrison become the first of The Beatles to secure a Number 1 on the Billboard chart as a solo artist.

However, Mack's publishing company successfully sued Harrison in the US for copyright infringement. The court found that Harrison had "subconsciously" copied the melody of "My Sweet Lord" from "He's So Fine". Subsequent damages of over 1.6 million US dollars were awarded.

In its judgment the court stated that, whilst it did not believe that Harrison had deliberately used the melody from "He's So Fine", "it is clear that 'My Sweet Lord' is the very same song as 'He's So Fine' with different words, and Harrison had access to 'He's So Fine.' This is, under the law, infringement of copyright, and is no less so even though