Let It Go: Why are some song titles used over and over again?

There's no copyright on using song titles again. So, are singles' doubles mistakes on the part of songwriters, or are they nice little earners?

Frozen out: Elsa (Disney)

When British singer-songwriter James Bay co-wrote a heartfelt song about an unbridgeable impasse in a relationship, it seemed like a perfectly good idea to call that song "Let It Go". But many months elapsed between that song being written, recorded, released, re-released and this week ending up on the Radio 2 playlist.

During that time, another song called "Let It Go", from the Disney film Frozen, became one of the top 30 digital singles of all time, selling well over 10 million copies. As a consequence, Bay's song is frequently referred to on radio, TV, print and online as: "Let It Go (no, not that Let It Go.)" It's a shame for Bay, but there's nothing he can do. His song is destined to sit slightly uncomfortably in the shadow of another.

It's by no means the first. Blondie's Chris Stein and Debbie Harry co-wrote a song called "For Your Eyes Only" in the hope of getting it featured in the 1981 James Bond film of the same name. While that song was quietly included on their album The Hunter, the song that featured in the film's title sequence became a global hit for Sheena Easton. John Lennon's song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" has been displaced in our memories by U2's.

Godley & Creme's 1979 single "An Englishman In New York" is credited to Sting on one website, despite Sting's tribute to Quentin Crisp being released nearly 10 years later. And while few people could ever confuse "Atmosphere" by Russ Abbot with "Atmosphere" by Joy Division, that doesn't stop people pretending to do so for a laugh.

Frozen out: James Bay

Copyright law doesn't stop songwriters picking song titles that have already been used, unless that title has acquired a "secondary meaning". So, if you decided to publish a song called "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", a court would probably rule that you were trying to cause deliberate confusion.

But some song titles have been re-used so often they're in danger of becoming clichés. For example, "Home" (performed by Simply Red, Sheryl Crow, Michael Bublé, Westlife), "Hold On" (En Vogue, Wilson Phillips, KT Tunstall), "Angel" (Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Eurythmics, Massive Attack) and "Ship Of Fools" (The Doors, The Grateful Dead, John Cale, Erasure, World Party, Echo And The Bunnymen, Van Der Graaf Generator, Robert Plant, The Scorpions and many others.) As popular culture piles up, ideas inevitably get recycled; people may consider Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" to be an unusual lyrical concept, but more than 30 other songs share that title, including Bruce Springsteen's commemoration of the demolition of the Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

Bay's and Disney's "Let It Go" missed each other in the charts by a few months, but there are at least three instances of songs with shared titles sitting side by side in a chart rundown. In 1979, Roxy Music's "Angel Eyes" found itself up against Abba's "Angeleyes"; Super Furry Animals and The Divine Comedy were both in the top 20 in 1996 with "Something For The Weekend", while 1989 saw Yazz's "Fine Time" (about relationship woes) squeeze past New Order's "Fine Time" (named after a scribbled reminder to pay a parking ticket.) But does this ever cause confusion amongst the public?

Songwriters certainly imagine it does. In October 1966, a song by The Temptations originally called "I Don't Wanna Lose You" was retitled "(I Know) I'm Losing You" when it was noted that Steve Mancha had recently released a song with the same name. The A-side of The Beatles' debut was nearly a McCartney song called "P.S. I Love You" until session producer Ron Richards noted that there was already a Johnny Mercer song from the 1930s with that title, and he advised flipping it with "Love Me Do". In reality, however, few people are likely to accidentally buy Disney's "Let It Go" in the hope of hearing James Bay. And if the opposite happens – well, Bay can hopefully console himself with the few quid in royalties.