Bob Dylan accused of plagiarising his Nobel Prize speech

Bob Dylan has been accused of lifting lines for his Nobel Prize speech from SparkNotes, which teenagers and university students use to help them revise for exams.

The ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ hitmaker – who was announced as the 2016 recipient in October but failed to pick up the prestigious medal and diploma at a ceremony in Sweden last December – collected his accolade on April 1st, ahead of his concert at Stockholm Waterfront in a private event with no media present.

An investigation into his speech was prompted by the discovery that Bob had quoted a line from Moby-Dick which does not actually appear in the Herman Melville novel, and 19 other similarities between his description of the award-winning book and the summary of it on SparkNotes were subsequently found.

Bob shied away from the limelight when giving the speech and had asked the Nobel Prize Academy to make the ceremony an “intimate” affair.

In order to receive his £750,000 Nobel Prize money, Bob has to give a lecture, and is expected to submit a taped talk. He’ll also have to forfeit the cash if he doesn’t deliver it by June.

Meanwhile, it’s not the first time he’s been accused of ripping off from others. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he defended himself against accusations of plagiarism on his record ‘Love and Theft’.

“I’m working within my art form,” he said. “It’s that simple. I work within the rules and limitations of it. There are authoritarian figures that can explain that kind of art form better to you than I can.

“It’s called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes.

“You make everything yours. We all do it.”

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