Borrowing in the wind? Debate over Dylan speech

Dylan, 76, delivered his lecture to the Swedish Academy last week. Photo / Supplied

Bob Dylan has been accused of borrowing heavily for part of the Nobel literature prize lecture he delivered to the Swedish Academy.

The singer-songwriter's remarks last week on how the book Moby Dick influenced him bear a close similarity to the SparkNotes summaries of the Herman Melville novel, according to an analysis on Slate.com.

SparkNotes.com provides study guides for students in literature and other fields.

Author Andrea Pitzer, writing on Slate.com on Wednesday, listed about 20 sentences from the portion of Dylan's lecture on Moby Dick that closely resembled phrases or ideas on the SparkNotes website on the book.

Dylan's representatives did not return calls for comment.

Dylan, whose songs include Blowin' in the Wind, The Times They Are A-Changin and Like a Rolling Stone, has admitted in the past he draws from other influences.

In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he brushed aside criticism he plagiarised from other artists by saying: "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."

Dylan, 76, delivered his lecture to the Swedish Academy last week. He chose not to attend the annual ceremony in Stockholm.