Elton John has won the legal war over the lyrics to his hit song Nikita – after a songwriter sued him earlier this year for allegedly stealing them.
TMZ reports that an Illinois judge dismissed the lawsuit lodged in April by Guy Hobbs, which claimed that Elton took his lyrics for the 1985 hits. Hobbs said that he had originally intended them for a song called Natasha – about a Western man falling for a Russian woman during the Cold War.
In the lawsuit, Hobbs claimed that he registered his copyright of the song he called Natasha and sent the lyrics to several publishers, including Big Pig Music Ltd, who have an affiliation with Elton John. His lawyer, Daniel Voelker, said that they had attempted to contact John on numerous occasions, but never received a response.
John claimed that “a Grammy-winning musician such as himself would never steal lyrics from some no-name songwriter”, and argued that the themes expressed in Natasha are too general to win copyright protection.
The judge ruled in his favour, effectively closing the case. There’s no word yet on whether Hobbs will appeal the decision.
Elton John will kick off his Australian tour next week, which includes the first two shows at the brand new Perth Arena and a special one-off show with collaborators Pnau in Sydney.
