Mordechai Horowitz, widower of the Late Naomi Shemer, Israel’s National Poet and Songwriter, is suing The Israel National Electric Company for unauthorized use of “HaKol Patuah”, a popular song that Naomi Shemer composed.
The title line of the hit song can be roughly translated as ”It’s anyone’s game, it’s not too late”. The Electric Company used this lyric in a publicity leaflet that was sent out to millions of Israeli households with their electricity bill. Horowitz who is supported by Acum, the Israel Artistes Association, claims that use of the lyrics is damages the moral rights of the popular songwriter.
Although it seems that Naomi Shemer did actually put the two phrases “It’s anyone’s game” and ”It’s not too late” together, we would suggest that the degree of creativity involved is fairly minimal. Dozens of sports articles have put the two phrases together since Naomi Shemer, and we would argue that the phrase is less inherently creative than “Catch 22″ – the title of a book by Joseph Heller that has become a popular catch phrase.
Naomi Shemer is locally credited with composing the melody and writing the lyrics of “Lu Yehi”, which can be accurately translated as “Let it Be”; the melody of which is more than slightly reminiscent of a Beatles hit of that name. Shemer’s version is somewhat judaicized in that Mother Mary (probably Paul Mc Cartney’s Mum, actually) is not mentioned. Nevertheless, there is more than a degree of plagiarism. Interestingly, there is a song called “Take my Life and Let it be”, that was written by abio (“Frances R. Havergal”,”h/a/v/havergal_fr”) Frances R. Havergal in 1874, i.e. nearly a hundred years before Paul McCartney wrote this Beatles swansong.
Another Shemer hit is “Sisu et Yerushalayim Gilu Va”, which can be translated as “Rejoice in Jerusalem and Enjoy her”, most of whose lyrics are lifted from the Bible.
The title of her greatest hit, “Jerusalem of Gold”, composed for the 1967 Israel Song Festival as an interlude whilst the votes were cast, and propelled into Jewish consciousness by the Six Day War when Jerusalem was reunited by the IDF, is also not exactly unique in that other poets used the phrase slightly earlier, see Tovia Preschel, “Yerushalayim shel Zahav”, Hadoar, 48,5, November 29, 1968: 70-71. Nevertheless, that song which has been voted as Israel’s greatest song ever has been suggested as a replacement to Hatikveh, the Israel National Anthem by Avneri of all people. Somewhat incongruently, the music is also featured in the score of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
Shemer who was a Zionist, was identified with the Nationalist camp and thus shunned by the Israeli Left.
