The Old Man Down the Road

The video for the song features what appears to be, through a little trickery, an extended single camera sequence that follows a very long electric guitar cord through various scenes. Fogerty appears briefly throughout the video, both as himself and at least two other characters (i.e. the character at the very beginning of the video and the man walking along the road with his jacket over his shoulder midway through the video.)

Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records claimed that "The Old Man Down the Road" shared the same chorus as "Run Through the Jungle", a song from Fogerty's days with Creedence Clearwater Revival years before. (Fogerty had relinquished copyrights and publishing rights of his Creedence songs to Zaentz and Fantasy, in exchange for release from his contractual obligations to them.) Zaentz sued (Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty) but the defendant Fogerty ultimately prevailed when he showed that the two songs were whole, separate and distinct compositions. Bringing his guitar to the witness stand, he played excerpts from both songs, demonstrating that many songwriters (himself included) have distinctive styles that can make different compositions sound similar to less discerning ears.[11]

After prevailing as defendant, Fogerty asked the court to require Zaentz to pay for the attorney fees he had spent to defend himself against the copyright infringement claim. In such (copyright) cases, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit required prevailing defendants seeking recompense to show that the original suit was frivolous or made in bad faith. This case, Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., became precedent when the U.S. Supreme Court (1993) overturned lower court rulings and decided that Fogerty could be awarded attorneys' fees without having to show that Zaentz's original suit was frivolous. The lower courts then decided that Fogerty should have his attorney fees, totalling $1,347,519.15.[12]

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