No Fees for Steve Winwood After ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ Copyright Win

Rock musician Steve Winwood shouldn’t collect attorneys’ fees after beating back a claim that The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin” copied from another song, a Tennessee magistrate judge said.

Winwood, his brother, Mervyn “Muff” Winwood, and label Kobalt Music Publishing argued no admissible evidence suggested they’d heard “Ain’t That a Lot of Love” before allegedly ripping off its bass riff. But evidence—which a judge ultimately excluded—did give Willa Dean “Deannie” Parker and Rose Banks enough reason to believe their claim wasn’t frivolous, Magistrate Judge Alistaire Newbern said in a recommendation.

Analysis of the “objective unreasonableness” of a lawsuit isn’t ...