Tom Petty given a songwriting credit on Sam Smith's "Stay With Me"

26 January 2015, 13:24 | Written by Laurence Day

(News)

(Tom Petty) (Sam Smith)

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne have been jointly given a 12.5% songwriting credit for Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" after a court ruled that the resemblances between Smith's megahit and Petty's 1989 anthem "I Won't Back Down" were too similar.

According to The Sun, the settlement was made late last year, but details have only just surfaced. A 'close source' has said that the process was all very smooth: "When Sam’s track was originally released, it was clear to a lot of musicians that there were notable similarities between the tracks. After it was pointed out to Sam’s camp, they didn’t try to fight it and amicably dished out royalties. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, musicians are just inspired by other artists and Sam and his team were quick to hold up their hand when it was officially flagged."

Consequence Of Sound note that the song is now cowritten by five artists: Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra), Tom Petty, Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes and Tourist.

The song has sold almost 4,000,000 copies worldwide.

Stream both tracks below and hear the likenesses below.