How did Oasis so blantantly rip-off "Bang a Gong (Get it On) with "Cigarettes and Alcohol", and get away with it?

Gallagher though is a notorious magpie as Stevie Wonder and Neil Innes quickly spotted to his cost.

has someone from Australia noticed the similarities between indecent obsession's " come back to me " and bee gees "words".
everyone knows the bee gees song so i'm surprised no-one at Melodian/ Mushroom record told the band.

The Innes rip-off was 'Whatever', which, if memory serves, is actually credited Gallagher/Innes/Bowie (as it's also the first in a long line of Oasis songs to steal from 'All The Young Dudes'), and might be a reason why the song has only been available on the original single...

How sweet to be an Idiot
As harmless as a cloud
Too small to hide the sun
Almost poking fun
At the warm but insecure untidy crowd.

How sweet to be an idiot
And dip my brain in joy
Children laughing at my back
With no fear of attack
As much retaliation as a toy
How sweet to be an idiot.
How sweet...

I tiptoe down the street
Smile at everyone I meet.

But suddenly a scream
Smashes through my dream
Fee fi fo fum
I smell the blood of an asylum
Hey you, you're such a pedant
You got as much brain as a dead ant
As much inagination as a caravan site!

But I still love you, still love you, oooh
How swee-ee-eet to be an idiot
How sweet
How sweeeeet
How sweeeeeeeet......

welcome to earth!

The answer is simply that copyright law protects lyrics and melodies, not arrangements.

Completely different scenario: Edwyn / Orange Juice knowingly, deliberately and unashamedly lifted two complete lines of lyric; as well as the trademark signature lead guitar line; from a Buzzcocks song and immediately acknowledged this clear act of homage in the following line of the song:

"You know me I’m acting dumb-dumb
You know the scene it’s very humdrum
And my favourite song’s entitled 'Boredom'".

i mean, sure the beatles wrote bunches of different chords and melodies, but people still buy those records, above all, because they're familiar--classic. so's bang a gong...

Erm, probably because Bolan ripped it off from someone else first.

I'm not sure it matters, really. I mean Blur's rip-off of "Boys Keep Swinging" was even more blatant if possible, and no-one's ever called them on it.

Radiohead paid up for 'Creep'

I've never heard that. What was Creep a rip-off of?

What song was that?

Actually, the more I think about it, the more litigious it gets. E.g., The chorus of "Boys" goes "Boys keep swinging/Boys always work it out", whereas M.O.R has: "You, me, we, we'll work it out!"

Bowie and Brian Eno have a co-songwriting credit for "MOR" on the single and probably every other release of that song (other than the album).

So yeah, Blur got called on it.

And there's a song of theirs, which esacpes me now, which is a direct ripoff of a Lee Hazlewood song.

"all the young dudes" = the rest of that song!