When it comes to the biggest thefts in the world of entertainment, the line between inspiration and outright robbery can be razor‑thin. From stolen TV concepts to plagiarized chart‑toppers, these ten cases prove that even the most iconic works sometimes have a shady origin story.
Biggest Thefts in Entertainment
10 Kung Fu
In December 1971, martial‑arts legend Bruce Lee sat down with Canadian host Pierre Berton and spilled the beans on a project he’d been developing: The Warrior. The series would have featured Lee as a wandering martial‑arts disciple roaming the American Old West. Lee told Berton that he’d pitched the idea to Warner Brothers and Paramount, only to be rebuffed because studios balked at casting a non‑American lead.
Fast forward to February 1972, and ABC aired a feature‑length pilot for Kung Fu. The show’s premise was a carbon copy of Lee’s pitch, but the lead role went to white actor David Carradine. Produced by Warner Brothers Television, the series ran for 63 episodes and became a ’70s staple.
Lee’s widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, later wrote that her husband had originated the entire concept and that Warner Brothers had blatantly swiped it.
9 Beverly Hills, 90210
Back in 1985, merchandise marketer H.W. Broido sent a pitch to Aaron Spelling Productions for a series he called Holli Woods. The concept revolved around a Midwestern teen moving to California—a perfect vehicle for Spelling’s daughter, Tori, and a goldmine for tie‑in toys.
Spelling replied in December 1985, calling the idea “absolutely charming,” and even forwarded a picture of Tori so a doll could be designed. Communication fizzled, and the project seemed to die—until 1990, when Fox launched Beverly Hills, 90210. The new series featured every element of Broido’s original pitch, starred Tori Spelling (though in a supporting role), and spawned a line of character dolls.
Furious, Broido sued in 1992, alleging that an entire business enterprise had been ripped off. The lawsuit settled out of court on undisclosed terms, and 90210 went on to dominate the ratings for a decade.
8 Beyonce’s Videos
Beyoncé’s meteoric rise as a solo superstar has been accompanied by a string of visual accusations. Her iconic “Single Ladies” routine lifts a dance sequence originally choreographed by Bob Fosse for the 1950s TV special “Mexican Breakfast.” In the “Hold Up” video, she walks down a street smashing car windows—a scene that mirrors Swiss video‑artist Pipilotti Rist’s “Ever Is Over All.” The “Countdown” clip borrows choreography, set design, and costumes from Dutch artist Teresa De Keersmaeker’s 1990 work “Achterland.”
In 2016, filmmaker Matthew Fulks sued Beyoncé, claiming that her visual album Lemonade borrowed compositions and themes from his short film Palinoia. The case was dismissed, with the court finding no copyright infringement.
7 Snowpiercer
In 2005, South Korean director Bong Joon‑ho fell in love with the French dystopian graphic novel The Snow‑Piercer, which follows humanity’s last survivors aboard a massive train. He and producer Park Chan‑wook pitched an adaptation that promised a fresh story and new characters.
Fans of the classic shooter BioShock quickly spotted striking parallels: a class‑divided society, a tyrannical overseer, and a retro‑futuristic aesthetic. When the 2013 film hit theaters, many called it “BioShock on a train.” Despite the criticism, the movie earned solid reviews.
Even the game’s developer, Irrational Studios, shut down in 2014, and some reviewers joked that the film was the “BioShock game I’ve wanted to play since the original.”
6 ‘All Summer Long’
Kid Rock’s 2008 smash “All Summer Long” is essentially a mash‑up. The track loops two bars from Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” and layers in elements from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Even the vocal phrasing mirrors Zevon’s, while the summer‑centric title helped the song surge to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
5 Avatar
James Cameron’s Avatar holds the record as the highest‑grossing film of all time, and it’s often praised for its originality. While Cameron has cited influences like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Dances With Wolves, he never publicly acknowledged a striking similarity to Poul Anderson’s 1957 pulp novella Call Me Joe.
Both works feature a paraplegic soldier who links with an artificial body to explore an alien world, eventually bonding with the native inhabitants and “going native.” The novella’s paperback covers even showcase blue‑skinned aliens wielding spears—an image that mirrors the visual tone of Avatar.
4 ‘Folsom Prison Blues’
Johnny Cash’s 1955 anthem “Folsom Prison Blues” is a cornerstone of his legacy, yet its lyrical skeleton was lifted wholesale from Gordon Jenkins’s 1953 orchestral piece “Crescent City Blues.” The narrative structure is identical, with only minor lyrical tweaks. For example, “I ain’t been kissed, Lord, since I don’t know when” became “I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when,” and the opening line “I hear the train a‑comin’, it’s rollin’ round the bend” appears verbatim.
After a protracted legal battle, Jenkins settled out of court fourteen years later, receiving $75,000 for the original composition that Cash built his career upon.
3 The ‘Amen’ Break
The 1969 track “Amen, Brother” by the Winstons contains a six‑second drum solo that would become the most sampled piece in music history. Over 1,800 songs across rap, electronic, and jungle genres have repurposed the break, even spawning an entire genre that leans heavily on its snappy snare.
For decades the original musicians saw no royalties—until a GoFundMe campaign raised nearly $30,000 for Richard Spencer, one of the Winstons’ drummers. Spencer reflected on the long‑awaited recognition, noting that his fellow drummer Gregory Coleman died homeless and broke in Atlanta.
2 Lady Gaga
The striking image above isn’t Lady Gaga at all—it’s Dale Bozzio, the frontwoman of 1980s band Missing Persons, whose neon‑lit look predates Gaga’s flamboyant persona. Fans have long noted the visual overlap, and Gaga’s “Jo Calderone” alter‑ego from the 2011 MTV VMAs also echoes Annie Lennox’s appearance in Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” video.
The most persistent rumor, however, claims that Gaga appropriated her entire style from a close friend, Lina Morgana, who tragically died in 2008. Friends of Morgana argue that Gaga’s aesthetic shifted dramatically after the loss, making her performances feel like “looking at a ghost.”
1 ‘The Power’
In 1989, German producers Snap! crafted a megamix that stitched together a rhythm track from Mantronix’s “King of the Beats” (itself a sample of the “Amen” break), verses lifted from Chill Rob G’s a‑cappella B‑side of “Let the Words Flow,” and a sax riff that gave the track its distinctive edge. The vocal hook sampled Jocelyn Brown’s “Love’s Gonna Get You,” delivering the now‑iconic chant “I’ve got the power!”
When Chill Rob G threatened legal action, Snap! recruited Durron Butler (“Turbo B”) from a nearby U.S. army base to write verses mimicking Rob’s style. Snap!’s version exploded across Europe, while Rob released his own version in the U.S. on the tiny Wild Pitch label. Snap! soon secured a U.S. distribution deal with Arista, effectively burying Rob’s rendition.
Ironically, the Snap! track’s refrain “It’s gettin’ kinda hectic” samples Rob’s original vocal, and Turbo B’s rap even boasts, “Copywritten lyrics so they can’t be stolen.”