Love Is a Wonderful Thing (Michael Bolton song)
| "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Michael Bolton | |
| from the album Time, Love & Tenderness | |
| Released | 1991 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:42 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Writer(s) | Michael Bolton Andrew Goldmark |
| Producer(s) | Walter Afanasieff |
"Love Is a Wonderful Thing" is a song recorded by American pop music singer Michael Bolton. The writing credit went to Bolton and Andrew Goldmark, and it was produced by Walter Afanasieff. The song, which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, was included on Bolton's 1991 album Time, Love & Tenderness, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 16 million copies worldwide.
The American R&B group The Isley Brothers wrote a song titled "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" and recorded it for United Artists Records in January 1964. The song was released as a single on a 45 rpm vinyl record on United Artists' Veep label in June 1966, and it reached #110 on Billboard's Bubbling Under The Hot 100 Singles chart. The song wasn't included on an album until it appeared on The Isley Brothers - The Complete UA Sessions, which was released in 1991.
On February 24, 1992, The Isley Brothers filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Bolton, Goldmark and Sony Music Publishing. "When I first heard his version of the song on the radio, I was really pleased," said Ronald Isley. "Then I went out to pick up the record and looked for my credit. I was upset because the credits weren't on there. So we got in touch with his people and then he went into the 'Oh, I didn't know you all had a song like this.' That type of thing."
Bolton claimed he had never heard the Isley Brothers' version. "The song is an original song," said Louis Levin, Bolton's manager. "We view the claim to be without merit and are vigorously defending the matter."
On April 25, 1994, a Los Angeles jury ruled in favor of the Isley Brothers. The jury determined there were five instances in which the Bolton/Goldmark song plagiarized the Isleys' tune. They ruled that 66 percent of the song's profits came from copyright-infringed material and 28 percent of the profits from the album Time, Love & Tenderness were derived from the track. Bolton, Goldmark and Sony Publishing were ordered to turn over more than $5 million in profits from the sales of Bolton's version of the song to the Isley Brothers. It was the largest award in history for plagiarism in the music industry.
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