Glee Rips off Jonathan Coulton?

2013-01-19 by Jom STAFF | 30 Comments
Singer/songwriter/Internet superstar Jonathan Coulton's version of "Baby Got Back" appears to have been shamelessly ripped off by those lovely folks on Fox's Glee, where high schoolers are played by a bunch of 30-somethings and butcher songs when they're not boning each other.

Jane Lynch is a badass, though.

Anyway, according to Coulton's Twitter, he was never contacted by Fox and contends that the backing track is not an original Glee recording, but the one he created when he covered the song.

The side-by-side comparison, posted by reddit user suudo, is nutty (left channel is Coulton's, the right channel is Glee's):

https://soundcloud.com/suudo/joco-vs-glee-baby-got-back

What seems particularly damning about the Glee version is that it includes Coulton's lyrical edit "Johnny C's in trouble", which he inserted into his cover (rather than "Mix-a-Lot's in trouble").

While it is possible that Glee completely re-recorded the track, right down to the BPM, the instruments are nevertheless uncannily similar. There is also some discussion as to whether or not Glee attempted to equalize Coulton's signature "quack" sound in their version.

Because Coulton has a Creative Commons non-commercial license, he may be entitled to compensation if it's proven that Glee basically ripped off the karaoke version of his song and slapped some new vocals over it.

Coulton's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCWaN_Tc5wo

Glee's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yww4BLjReEk

Coulton's tweet and blog post: https://twitter.com/jonathancoulton/status/292304798999539712

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-glee/

Tagged: Jonathan Coulton

Comments:Add a Comment 
TrstN01
January 19th 2013
799 Comments


My friends on facebook have been complaining about this all day.

Trebor.
Emeritus
January 19th 2013
59837 Comments


Glee is cancer

demigod!
January 19th 2013
49586 Comments


i can't stand Jane Lynch, she just bugs me in everything.

bach
January 19th 2013
16303 Comments


Nice dig, treb.

ConcubinaryCode
January 19th 2013
7541 Comments


I don't see the problem?

paxman
January 19th 2013
4084 Comments


Shut up, James, you sack of wine

Also, would tottaly bang trebor's profile pic

LifeAsAChipmunk
January 19th 2013
4852 Comments


glee sucks

MisterTornado
January 19th 2013
4507 Comments


thought it said john coltrane and was like AW HELL NAH

zaruyache
January 19th 2013
27367 Comments


Joco's version was better, too.

SCREAMorphine
January 19th 2013
1849 Comments


Ughh Glee..

Vespiion
January 19th 2013
1224 Comments


Celebrate spring with a crazy little thing called fucking outside

zaruyache
January 19th 2013
27367 Comments


May first isn't for another three months, though!

Vespiion
January 19th 2013
1224 Comments


My girlfriend loves Glee and Coulton, so I think this made her head explode.

foxblood
January 19th 2013
11159 Comments


i can't stand Jane Lynch, she just bugs me in everything.


have you seen Party Down? seems like you'd love that show, plus it's her best role

North0House2
January 19th 2013
6153 Comments


https://soundcloud.com/alacrion/joco-v-glee


TOTAL rip off.


Article made me lol though.

ThePac
January 19th 2013
219 Comments


yeah you can't really get any more blatant than this, how did they think they'd get away with it lol



ThePac
January 19th 2013
219 Comments


true that

TRMshadow
January 19th 2013
5119 Comments


Just now really getting into JoCo. I don't think anything will come of it, but I atleast hope glee at apologizes or something, to the both of them not just JoCo.

Recspecs
January 19th 2013
9911 Comments


Jane Lynch is awesome in Role Models.

iSkane
January 19th 2013
861 Comments


Jane Lynch is also pretty awesome in Party Down (check it out.) But seriously, Glee sucks fat cocks. This and that whole thing with Dave Grohl a while ago. God damn.

henryChinaski
January 19th 2013
5015 Comments


So he's an internet superstar?

DatsNotDaMetulz
January 19th 2013
4309 Comments


If Glee is the only show worse than TBBT in America then I envy American TV. Cos we have "The Only Way is Essex", "Geordie Shore", "Made In Chelsea", and bs like that.

wait you have those too. I think I can forgive you for mentally blocking those shows out of your memory.

cpimentel986
January 19th 2013
82 Comments


Yes, it was as blatant as it was unnecessary. Yet i've no trouble to say i like the show. I can't say i'm a fan of every actor (even most of them) in it or the vocal performances, other than the comedic chops of Ms Lynch & Chris Colfer's singing.

But yeah, Ryan Murphy should pay the fine.



ZoneOut
January 19th 2013
23 Comments


It's so weird how Ryan Murphy created Glee, then created American Horror Story

ThePac
January 19th 2013
219 Comments


its pop culture snox, welcome to the 21st century

synysterdjs
January 19th 2013
105 Comments


That's facking guy.

Sanders
January 19th 2013
2416 Comments


Jom you need to write more articles/reviews/anything

wakeupdead
January 19th 2013
2229 Comments


So not only can Glee not write songs, they have to rip off covers of songs too?

demigod!
January 19th 2013
49586 Comments


its rly bad

SmokingTheClouds
January 21st 2013
639 Comments


This article. lmao.



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