Daft Punk: How Much Did They Rip-Off?

Just like pretty much every long-term couple in the past year, famed electronic music duo Daft Punk has broken up. Even though they've been together since Jurassic Park was a brand new movie, the faux robotic pair are hanging up their synthesizers and goofy masks for good. The split was announced via a video entitled "Epilogue," in which Daft Punk travels to a desert, and one of them literally self-destructs -- as opposed to just figuratively self-destructing like most musical acts when they break-up.

And we have a lot to thank Daft Punk for; they made '90s parties way more fun and that Tron sequel slightly less boring. But while reflecting on their musical legacy, we would also be remiss if we didn't question just how much of their act was straight-up lifted from other artists. After all, Daft Punk's work utilized more samples than a cheese vendor at Costco. Like 2005's "Robot Rock," which was pretty much just the intro to Breakwater's "Release the Beast" over and over again.

And "Harder Better Faster" liberally recycled Edwing Birdsong's 1978 tune "Cola Bottle Baby."

Of course, sampling is a huge part of electronic music, but while these artists were credited for their work, others weren't. One of Daft Punk's most defining songs, "One More Time," sampled Eddie Johns' "More Spell On You," which was reportedly cleared but not actually credited on the album.

Daft Punk's lack of transparency is kind of shitty but prompted fans to investigate the full extent of their sampling -- Discovery, for example, is "a sort of Frankenstein album" in which "almost every track has been recreated using parts from different songs." And it took 20 goddamn years before someone found the obscure disco track that was used to build "Fresh."

Even the duo's iconic look was seemingly cribbed from the futuristic paintings of legendary Blade Runner designer Syd Mead ...

... who was mainly ticked off that Daft Punk's copies were "poorly proportioned" and "badly executed." 

Still, we'll miss those guys. R.I.P. Daft Punk/everyone's interest in seeing a third Tron movie.

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Top Image: YouTube/Daft Punk