Sam Smith Song Direct Copy of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down."



Tom Petty say's that he had no intention of launching further legal action against Sam Smith after it emerged that they were locked in a financial /legal dispute over gross similarities in their music.

Lawyers for both parties of Smith vs. Petty have agreed that Sam Smith will give songwriters; Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne co-writing credits on Sam's hit song Stay With Me due to overwhelming similarities with Tom's 1989 hit, "I Won't Back Down," which they, (Tom and Jeff), co-wrote.


Britain's The Sun newspaper reported that the trio settled the copyright case out of court, but Petty is adamant there was no chance of it reaching the levels of a full-on legal battle and insists the whole clash was amicable once lawyers for Petty brought the matter to the attention of Sam Smith's label.

In a statement on his official website, Petty says, "About the Sam Smith thing. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it obviously got by."


"Sam's people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. And no more is to be said about it."

"Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career."

Listen to a YouTuber's mash-up of the two songs and hear it for yourself...