“It’s a shared language of music” — Elvis Costello reasons not suing Olivia Rodrigo for taking inspiration from ‘Pump It Up’ for her song ‘Brutal’

Singer Elvis Costello recently explained why he won't sue popstar Olivia Rodrigo for being inspired by his track Pump It Up for one of her tracks, Brutal.

Rodrigo's debut studio album, Sour (2021) featured the opening track, Brutal, which was allegedly inspired by Costello's chord sequence from his 1978 hit, Pump It Up. However, Costello has come on record to say he does not have any issue with Rodrigo taking inspiration from his music.

In his October 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Elvis Costello defended Olivia Rodrigo over alleged plagiarism claims. The rockstar believed singers often "allude to [the song] in their own arrangements", much like Rodrigo's producer "obviously did." He continued:

“Now, I did not find any reason to go after them legally for that, because I think it would be ludicrous. It’s a shared language of music. Other people clearly felt differently about other songs on that record.”

This is not the first time Elvis Costello has defended Olivia Rodrigo over alleged plagiarism accusations. Shortly after the release of Rodrigo's Sour in 2021, Costello defended the pop star on X (then Twitter). He responded to a post where a user called Brutal a "pretty much direct lift" from Costello's music, saying:

"This is fine by me, Billy. It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did."

Although Costello feels otherwise, Rodrigo has reportedly faced some alleged copyright issues in her career. She retroactively credited artists like Taylor Swift, Hayley Williams, and Josh Farro in her tracks after listeners pointed out striking similarities with the latter's numbers.

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Olivia Rodrigo retroactively credited Taylor Swift and Paramore in her tracks amid alleged copyright issues

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In her career, a couple of Olivia Rodrigo's tracks have often been compared to the works of popular artists, including Taylor Swift and Paramore. Rodrigo herself has admitted to her 2021 track Deju Vu being seemingly inspired by Taylor Swift's 2019 hit, Cruel Summer. In an April 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Rodrigo said:

"We wanted to write a bridge. I wanted it to be really high-energy ’cause the rest of the song is so serene and eerily calm,... But I wanted the last bridge to go crazy, and I love ‘Cruel Summer.’ It’s one of my favorite songs ever. I love like the yelly vocals in it, like the harmonized yells that she does, I think they’re, like, super electric and moving, so I wanted to do something like that."

Two months later in July 2021, Rodrigo retroactively credited Taylor Swift and her collaborators Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) for songwriting in Deja Vu.

Olivia Rodrigo also reportedly interpolated Swift's 2017 number New Year's Day from her album Reputation while making her song, 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back. Billboard reported in May 2021 that Swift's collaborator Jack Antonoff has been included in the songwriting credits of Rodrigo's track.

In a June 2021 interview with Zach Sang, Rodrigo admitted to having interpolated Swift's song and explained that she had taken approval from her team before releasing it.

For those uninformed, an interpolated song includes a part of one song's composition which is recorded to make something new. Interpolation is different from sampling, which means picking up a part from a song without any changes.

Apart from drawing inspiration from Swift, Olivia Rodrigo's 2021 track, Good 4 U, was also reportedly inspired by Paramore's 2007 song, Misery Business. In August 2021, Rodrigo retroactively credited Paramore artists Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro for songwriting.

According to a September 2021 report by Billboard, Williams and Farro would receive 50% of the combined royalty share for Good 4 U, while Rodrigo and her collaborator, Daniel Nigro would split the other half. As per Billboard, the Paramore duo were estimated to receive $1.2 million in royalties from the track.

The report also suggested that Rodrigo and Nigro had to split their royalties for Deja Vu, sharing 50% stakes with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and St. Vincent. The other half remained with the singer and her collaborator.

In a December 2021 interview with TIME, Olivia Rodrigo spoke about her reported copyright battles, saying:

"It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity."

Rodrigo's collaborator Dan Nigro also commented on the matter, saying that "people get funny about things" when songs become popular.