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LOS ANGELES — Country Joe McDonald is being sued for allegedly stealing the tune of his 1965 protest song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die-Rag” from a 1926 song by famed jazz trombonist Kid Ory. 

The suit was filed last month by Ory’s daughter, Babette Ory, in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Ory claims McDonald stole the tune to her father’s “Muskrat Ramble” and argues that McDonald’s infringement was intentional 

According to the suit, Ory notified McDonald in July that his song infringed on her father’s copyright, but he continued to perform it. Under copyright law, the suit can ask for damages for performances of the song only in the past three years and for any performances since its filing. 

“Damage for intentional infringement can be up to $150,000 for every time the song has been performed over the past three years,” Ory’s lawyer, Neville Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times. “McDonald released it on a record, sang it on a TV series, ’Tales of the City’— it’s hard to tell how much that will amount to. His song is an American classic, it’s just too bad that it infringed on another one.” 

The suit asks for unspecified damages and an order barring McDonald from performing the song. Ironically, it comes just at the time when the recording may be gaining new popularity because of the military action in Afghanistan. 

McDonald, head of one of the leading psychedelic political bands of the 1960s and a solo artist since 1970, conceded that he’s been a fan of Kid Ory but denied he copped the tune.