I think a lot of people would.... and I think a lot of people wouldn’t care, no consensus either way.
It’s an interesting issue though if someone was sent a riff and then days later said artist is playing that exact same riff... doesn’t mean it’s stolen of course, but still an interesting claim.
It’s like with pedals, when someone says such and such copied their circuit, gooped the board, and is selling them for twice the cost...
Not everyone cares, but folks who bought one thinking it was an original design may care...
I’d be unhappy if I paid $300 for a Vertex Axis wah and then learned it’s just a $99 BBE wah with a new logo.
Hardware and riffs are kind of apples and oranges of course, but still represent character.
If an given artist built a career on taking a lot of other people’s songs and riffs, not giving credit etc, it may change how some people view that artist.
At the same time, anyone on the net can make a claim that someone stole soemthing, and it can be quite baseless.
I could say David Gilmour heard me playing the Comfortably Numb second solo and then a few months later the Wall drops and I’m like “hey that’s my solo, near note for note”.
Pete seems pretty darn reputable and like a good guy, so it seems a bit surprising that someone would make a claim he ripped off a riff.
But what do we do ? Say the guy is lying ? Say Pete is a thief ? We have no evidence either way, so just pretend it was never said, and maybe after more reports come out say hey, that dude on the FAS forum was telling the truth back in 2019 and we totally dismissed it....