Pete Yorn and Echo Friendly have settled their crediting dispute after they claimed he “exploited” them with a cover of ‘Worried’
The American singer is releasing a collaborative EP called ‘Apart’ with actor Scarlett Johansson on June 1. The pair previously released an album called ‘Break Up’ together in 2009. Echo Friendly had alleged that ‘Bad Dreams’, the first single to land ahead of the new EP, is a direct cover of their 2014 song.
The band had argued that while they have “zero legal claim” they believed that Yorn misled them about his intentions. Echo Friendly said that they granted Yorn 25% of the band’s publishing rights for the cover, on the basis that he would be adapting ‘Worried’ into a new composition. They also believed that they would be credited as songwriters. However, at time of writing, Echo Friendly had not been credited on streaming services.
“It’s a bummer because you would think there would be more solidarity between songwriters and that maybe the bigger artist would make sure the little indie band didn’t get screwed,” wrote Echo Friendly’s Jake Rabinbach on Facebook.
A Facebook account that appeared to belong to Pete Yorn later commented on Rabinbach’s post. In the comment, Yorn links to a previous video interview in the run-up to ‘Apart’s release, in which he discusses his love of Echo Friendly’s music.
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“Of course I want to bring attention to the band,” he wrote, “and always planned to so when we do actual press for the record. Record is out June 1 and that is when more press will be out.
Now, the dispute has been settled 0 with The Echo Friendly sharing an image from Yorn that depicts them as credited on the record sleeve.
Pete Yorn called me directly yesterday afternoon and suffice to say we had the kind of conversation two people can only…
Posted by The Echo Friendly on Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Rabinbach wrote in a message to fans: “Pete Yorn called me directly yesterday afternoon and suffice to say we had the kind of conversation two people can only have away from the toxicity of the internet. We heard each other out and settled our differences like two artists without lawyers or harsh words.
“I really appreciate him coming to me to make things right. I would never claim that he stole our song. I may have been upset about the way things went down, but I would never make any overall judgements about his character or his artistic choices.”
He added: “The Echo Friendly remains flattered that he chose to interpret our song and we wish him all the best with his new EP. Thanks to everyone who showed us support.”