They were sued because “Creep” shared a similar chord progression and some melodic content with the 1972 version of “The Air That I Breathe”, originally performed by Albert Hammond (who co-wrote it with Mike Hazelwood).
Albert Hammond is, of course, Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes’ dad.
The law suit was settled and Hammond & Hazelwood awarded joint songwriting credits and a percentage of royalties for “Creep”.
In turn, in 2018 Radiohead pursued legal action against Lana Del Ray for the similarities between “Creep” and her track “Get Free” from her album “Lust For Life” from the previous year.
pophole 