Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne win songwriting spat

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne have been awarded songwriting royalties for pop star Sam Smith’s smash hit single Stay With Me.

Smith’s Grammy-nominated track bears similarities to Tom Petty’s 1989 song I Won’t Back Down. And after Petty’s lawyers pointed out the resemblance, Smith agreed to credit Petty and co-writer Lynne 12.5% of the songwriting credits each, according to The Sun.

Stay With Me has sold almost four million copies worldwide and is up for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Performance at this year’s Grammy Awards.

I Won’t Back Down was the first single from Petty’s album Full Moon Fever which went on to achieve multi-platinum selling status.

Last year, Petty recalled working with supergroup The Traveling Wilbury’s as “a wonderful time” in his life.

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