one direction respond to 'ripping off' claims

[Circadia]

I'm glad not all One Direction fans are the same, but it is ridiculous how some of them act, looks like there will have to be a advice line opened when they split up, just like it was with Take That.

aha oh god! Or they'll just flock to twitter/tumblr and cry

[Kardan]

Why you're providing an example is beyond me, I've admitted many times that artists (and authors, writers, painters) ALL rip off each others work, it's called being influenced.

There are only limited numbers of songs yes, and catchy riffs such as the one in this song would have been written even if the other song never existed. They have admitted it, which must mean they have some sort of agreement with the original songwriter, or they'd be in court right now.

It's not being called influenced. For example, Marina and the Diamonds has stated the following artists as her influences:

Daniel Johnston, Blondie, Kylie Minogue, The Distillers, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Garbage, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Britney Spears, Yann Tiersen, Elliott Smith, Dolly Parton, and Madonna

Marina hasn't copied a tune or riff from any of those artists. And no, this riff would not have been written by One Direction if The Clash hadn't have done it. The only reason One Direction have this riff in this song is because it was created by The Clash. And have they got permission? Well, if they did, surely they would have said so after all the accusations.