Jake Owen Sued Over Hit Song

Ugh...I hate this for a couple of reasons.  First, we love Jake Owen.  He's a longtime friend of the show and is one of the really good guys in the business.  And two, we've always felt kinship with this song as he debuted it live at an event of ours some four years ago.  So, here's the nitty-gritty:  songwriters Alexander Cardinale and Morgan Reid have filed a copywrite infringement lawsuit claiming Owen's "Made for You" lifts significant portions of its structure and lyrics from their song of the same name, from 2014.  The history of that song is interesting (and I have no memory of this) as it was used in a campaign for Coca-Cola.  In fact, millions of bottles of Coke had the phrase "I Was Made For You" on them.  So, let's see if there's legitimacy to the claims.  First, the original as featured in a Coke commercial.

Now, here's Jake Owen's "Made for You" as it was first performed at our Celebrity Golf Tournament and Concert at The Palisades, October 18, 2o17.  Prior to starting this song, Jake told our crowd, "I don't know when my next album will come out, but this song will be on it.  I've never done this live before, so here goes..."

Finally, I guess this is a legal question, but I'm not sure why Jake has been named in this lawsuit.  He did not write the original (obviously) nor his version (it is credited to songwriters Benjy Davis, Joey Hyde and Neil Medley).  To me, and again I'm no lawyer, this is like suing someone who bought and drives a truck over stealing its design.  Makes no sense to me.  In any event, I'm almost positive this will not be going to court.  Someone's is going to get a check written to make this complaint go away.