In 1994,
Posh Boy Records owner Robbie Fields submitted a written claim to Epitaph Records via the
Harry Fox Agency, alleging that the two-bar Arabian guitar phrase repeated throughout "Come Out and Play" copied the guitar solo from "Bloodstains", a song by the
Fullerton, California punk rock band
Agent Orange written in 1979 to which Fields, as the song's publisher, owned the copyright. Offspring lead vocalist and primary songwriter
Dexter Holland had cited "Bloodstains" as one of the songs that sparked his interest in punk rock, saying it "really influenced me, especially that Arabian-sounding lead. I've written a lot of stuff like that", and the Offspring's public admiration had brought Agent Orange increased attention. Fields contended that the similarity between the two guitar parts amounted to the Offspring
sampling Agent Orange, and requested that Epitaph pay a licensing fee of for each copy of
Smash sold—equating to $60,000 or more at the time—which he would split evenly with Agent Orange frontman and "Bloodstains" writer Mike Palm. "We've told [Fields] a hundred times he's not getting paid. He's not getting a cent", Wixen said in 1996, stating that Fields and Palm would have to sue if they wished to pursue the claim. Although no lawsuit was ever filed, Palm maintained that he still deserved credit for the guitar riff: "I could show you interviews in which Dexter Holland outright admits that he took that riff from my song and used it in his song," he asserted in 2000, "In the rap world, when something like that is taken as a sample, they pay for it the same way I pay for guitar strings and picks." The claim became national news when the Offspring discussed it on
MTV, leading to a backlash against Palm: "Some punk kid's perception of that is to think that I'm the bad guy," he said, "but they don't understand that the Offspring are millionaires and I'm just trying to retain whatever little tiny thing is mine." Some fellow Californian punk rock musicians criticized the allegation.
Frank Agnew, guitarist of fellow Fullerton band the
Adolescents, remarked "I don't see how you can call that plagiarism; all it is, is an Arabic scale. It just reeks to me [as if] people are after a piece of the pie. If the Offspring did a guitar solo that was reminiscent of one of my guitar solos, I'd be honored, not [antagonized]. I think it's real petty."
The Vandals, who were signed to Holland's label
Nitro Records, released the song "Aging Orange" on their 1996 album
The Quickening, with lyrics by bassist
Joe Escalante mocking Palm's claim to ownership of a style rooted in ancient Middle Eastern music. ''Back in ancient Egypt many pharaohs went to jailFor misappropriation of my
Phrygian scaleI said "Listen,
Tutankhamun, you're driving me insaneIt's obvious those bellies are all dancing to 'Bloodstains'I figured out you owe me, and please try not to laughBut every time I hear it, I get one more
golden calf"'' Palm called the song "nothing but Joe's desperate attempt to brown-nose the Offspring", characterizing it as "lame and out of line. You think there was some ass-licking going on there?", sentiments echoed by Fields. Palm noted "Aging Orange" incorrectly implied he had sued the Offspring. Escalante, also an entertainment lawyer, said that Fields' and Palm's attempt to get money from Epitaph and the Offspring represented "the kind of crap I hate" in both the legal system and entertainment business, and that the Vandals—with their long tradition of satirizing things they perceived foolish within the punk scene—would have ridiculed the situation regardless of the parties involved. The Offspring later
covered "Bloodstains" for the soundtrack of the 2000 film
Ready to Rumble. "It's great that they recorded 'Bloodstains, said Palm, "but it doesn't help me personally. Sometimes I feel like an old black bluesman who got ripped off." ==Alternate versions==