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Everybody Steals From Everyone — Or How Taylor Swift Just Grew Up
Years ago, probably 1987 or ’88, I went to a writers conference in Flint. It was hosted by historical fiction and science fiction writer Diane Carey, who, at the time, had written two Star Trek novels. (She would eventually write 32 across all Trek incarnations) The one takeaway I recall from that is she telling the 40 or so who showed up that writing is a craft, but it is also a medium, a part of media and that “everyone steals from everyone.”
“Oh, you mean like Michael Jackson did to Paul McCartney?”
The room laughed.
Except, it wasn’t funny. It was business. In 1985, following his smash album Thriller, Jackson was the biggest star going. Of course, Paul McCartney was still going strong. His post-Beatles career was going full steam with Wings and he had just recorded a hit record with MJ, “Say, Say, Say.” They also did a duet on Thriller, “The Girl is Mine.” They were friends.
Until they weren’t. Jackson brought the rights to The Beatles songs, 251 of them, to be exact and Paul, once again, got blindsided. He had been brought out in the late ‘60’s and the rights to perhaps the most iconic band of the 20th century had passed through to an Australian playboy by the late 70’s. It was also a source of continuing agitation for McCartney, who spent nearly 20…
