Rolling Stones Sued for Copyright Over ‘Living In A Ghost Town’ Single

The Rolling Stones were served with a copyright lawsuit pertaining to their 2020 single "Living In A Ghost Town."

According to Billboard, the song's writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are named in the lawsuit filed by Sergio Garcia Fernandez on March 10. Fernandez claims in the lawsuit "Living In A Ghost Town" lifts "many of the recognizable and key protected elements" of two of his songs.

The plaintiff claims he gave a demo CD featuring these two songs to a close family member of Jagger. Billboard notes Fernandez's legal team wrote in the lawsuit, "The immediate family member … confirmed receipt … to the plaintiff via e-mail, and expressed that the musical works of the plaintiff and its style was a sound The Rolling Stones would be interested in using." Despite claims of the email, a copy of it was not included in the lawsuit filing.

Jagger, Richards nor any of their reps have commented publically about the lawsuit.

The Stones released "Living In A Ghost Town" in April 2020 during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, Jagger said in a statement about the song that the band was working on it before lockdown. The band released it as a stand-alone single because, " ... we thought [it] would resonate through the times we’re living in."

The Rolling Stones, nearly six decades after first forming, remain one of the most popular bands in the world.

From the '60s to the present, the Stones' catalog features some of rock's most iconic and influential tracks of all time. In celebration of "The World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band," here are the Rolling Stones' 50 best songs ranked.

The Rolling Stones have an eventful 2024 ahead of them. The iconic band will be hitting the road in North America in support of their latest album, Hackney Diamonds, which was released in October 2023. Their 2024 tour dates are as follows:

Hackney Diamonds, of course, was their first studio album of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. The Stones announced the album in a press conference in September 2023 hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

During the press conference, Mick Jagger said of the album, "We wouldn’t be putting this out now if we didn’t really like it. We didn’t want to make just any record and put it out. So we wanted to make a record."

Jagger added, "Before we went in, we said we all want to make a record that we really love, ourselves. People may like it, other people may not. But we must say this, we are quite pleased with it. … We hope you’ll like it."

Hackney Diamonds features some big guests. Ronnie Wood said during the presser that Lady Gaga sings on the track "Sweet Sounds of Heaven." He also dropped Stevie Wonder's name but didn't specify what track he'd be on. Late drummer Charlie Watts is featured on two tracks with one of them being "Live By the Sword."

Keith Richards provides vocals on "Tell Me Straight." He playfully said of the song, "I can tell you straight that I have no idea what it's about. He [pointing to Jagger] tried to steal it, so it must be good."