Tame Impala Plagiarism Accusation Was A 'Joke,' Legal Action Being Considered

A few days ago, Chilean music site Rata.cl published an article accusing Australian psych-rock band Tame Impala of plagiarizing their hit "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" from Argentinian pop star Pablo Ruiz. Today, however, the writers of the original article are claiming that, "it was a joke." Unfortunately for Tame Impala, this joke has apparently prompted Ruiz to consider some completely serious legal action.

"It was a joke," said Rata.cl editors Raúl Álvarez and Patricio Pérez to Rolling Stone. "We were at a party and had that idea. Curiously, it was viralized pretty fast. We never thought we'd had this impact, and we're very surprised about it."

The whole fiasco began with an article published on Rata.cl on Aug. 5, which claimed that Tame Impala's 2012 song "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" was stolen from Pablo Ruiz's 1989 song "Océano." A video posted within the article plays the two songs side-by-side, showing a definite similarity between the melodies and chord progressions, though it's most likely a coincidence rather than deliberate plagiarism.

"Of course we think it's funny," Álvarez and Pérez went on to say, "but we hope there are no charges against Tame Impala. We actually like them a lot."

One person who didn't think it was so funny was Pablo Ruiz himself, who revealed in an interview with ESPN Radio Argentina that he is consulting his lawyers about the issue. "Obviously there is plagiarism," Ruiz said. "Not if you have done it on purpose or not, but there are seven bars that are equal to my song."

When asked for a comment by Rolling Stone, Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker said, "This is a joke, right?"

Check out the video comparing the two songs, and let us know what you think down in the comments section:

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