It is worth noting that some melodies have a sort of institutional quality -- you can hear them so much they fade into the background of everything, and you bec

It is worth noting that some melodies have a sort of institutional quality -- you can hear them so much they fade into the background of everything, and you become sort of blind to the fact that you "stole" them, and for it to be only blindingly obvious once pointed out. It's actually bizarrely possible he lifted it without realising, and even that other people approved it without realising. Because the tiniest shift of context can make people blind to the obvious. When I was learning to play a new (to me) instrument -- an unusual fretless acoustic instrument -- I worked through a little arrangement of a very, very well known pop song, to teach myself a bunch of chords, progression moves and techniques. I slowed it down, changed its rhythm slightly. But to me it was utterly recognisable. I played a recording to several people who knew pop really well and nobody spotted it. Even though I gave the arrangement a name that was a clear pun on the original title. Once I pointed it out, everyone spotted it. Because it's obvious. But only if you're looking for it. The reason it wasn't easy to spot is the shift in context. Because without crucial elements of context, it's actually only a chord sequence. (Though I really did leave a _lot_ of it in)