I Fought The Law Live / Green Day VS The Clash and extra Dead Kennedys

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The song was written in 1958 by Sonny Curtis, and recorded in 1959 when he joined the Crickets, taking the place of Buddy Holly on guitar. Joe B. Mauldin and Jerry Allison continued their positions on the stand-up bass and drums, respectively, while Earl Sinks filled the role for vocals. The song was included on their 1960 album, In Style with the Crickets.

A version by Sam Neely charted in 1975. The song was also recorded by the Clash in 1979. A version with different lyrics was recorded by the Dead Kennedys in 1978.

In mid-1978, the Clash were working on their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones flew to San Francisco to record overdubs in September–October at the Automatt studio. The owner of the Automatt kept his collection of classic jukeboxes distributed around the various rooms of the studio complex. Strummer and Jones heard the Bobby Fuller version of "I Fought the Law" for the first time on one of the jukeboxes.

Some of the percussive noises on the record were made by hitting the pipes on a urinal. Jones told Uncut magazine in 2015, "Yeah, we went into the toilets and banged on the pipes with hammers to make it sound like a chain gang. Y'know, that 'clang! clang!' at the end? And then at the very end you can hear a 'sssszzhhh!' That's it flushing!"

Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version of the song in 1978, which was released on Family Tradition (1979). Released as the album's first single, it was a moderate hit and peaked at number 15 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, giving Williams his first Top 15 single in four years.

Dead Kennedys adapted "I Fought the Law" shortly after San Francisco politician Dan White murdered city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

Sam Neely's version of the song went to No. 54 on the Billboard pop charts and no. 61 on the country charts in 1975. Another country version by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went to No. 66 in 1992.

Green Day's version of the song was used in 2004 for a Pepsi/iTunes commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Colin Farrell recorded a version in 2003 for the Irish black comedy crime film Intermission directed by John Crowley and written by Mark O'Rowe.