Satriani files plagiarism lawsuit against Coldplay

[Bobtheicon]

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – An American rock guitarist has filed a lawsuit against Coldplay, accusing the popular British band of plagiarising one of his songs on their latest hit album, according to court documents published on Thursday.

Joe Satriani, known for his instrumental compositions, alleges Coldplay's song "Viva la Vida" had "copied and incorporated substantial original portions" from his own track "If I Could Fly" recorded on an album released in 2004.

Satriani's lawsuit demands damages and "any and all profits" related to the alleged copyright infringement.

A representative for the band was not immediately available for comment.

Coldplay's latest album "Viva la vida," released in June, has topped the charts in Europe and the United States. The recording helped Coldplay win seven nominations for the 2009 Grammy awards.

[guzzi]

go git em joe...

[Bobtheicon]

I wish they'd lock Coldplay up for 18 years. Crooks.

[captaincapper]

Coldplay sucks

[Lukester]

Coldplay responds to lawsuit, says song similarities 'coincidental':
-------------------------------------------------------------

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS




NEW YORK - Coldplay has fired back against accusations they copied another artist's work for their hit "Viva La Vida."

In a statement released Tuesday, the band responded to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by guitarist Joe Satriani last week in federal court in Los Angeles. That lawsuit says the Grammy-nominated song contains "substantial, original portions" of his 2004 song, "If I Could Fly."

"With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations," read the statement.

"If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song 'Viva La Vida.' We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours."

Satriani, 52, wants a federal judge to order an accounting so he can determine how much money he may be owed, or else stop using the song.

In response to Coldplay's statement, Satriani's lawyer, Howard E. King, said Coldplay's public reaction was dramatically different from how the guitarist's claims were treated before the lawsuit was filed.

"We attempted to have a dialogue on this before we went public," King said. "We felt almost forced to file suit."

"As far as the 'coincidence,' ultimately that's for a jury to decide," he added.

King said it's common for musicians to be influenced by other works and incorporate it into their own, sometimes a little too closely. But he said that the reaction is usually different when the similarities are pointed out.

"It doesn't mean you don't owe something to the original composer," he said.

Coldplay is one of the world's top-selling pop acts, and their latest CD, "Viva La Vida," has sold nearly two million copies in the United States alone. It was nominated last week for seven Grammys, including album of the year and record of the year for the title track.

-Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

-

On the Net:

http://www.coldplay.com

http://www.joesatriani.com

[Bobtheicon]

Remember when Vanilla Ice said he didn't steal Queen/Bowie's Under Pressure?
Hahaha!! - That worked out well for him, hope this seals the same fate for Coldplay.

[Lukester]

Originally Posted by Bobtheicon

Remember when Vanilla Ice said he didn't steal Queen/Bowie's Under Pressure?
Hahaha!! - That worked out well for him, hope this seals the same fate for Coldplay.

Yeah, I remember that one...but I've heard much closer similarities and nothing was ever done about it. After all, rock n' roll is a basic 3-chord tune out of 7 yet the possibilities are endless by adding a 7th, a minor, a maj 7, a 9th, a sus 4th, a 13th, etc chords...add to that special effects like echoplexes, phase shifters, flangers or delays etc and you got yourself a "new tune". I haven't heard Coldplay's "version" yet but I will.

[Bobtheicon]

Here you go; Actually sounds pretty good when mixed together.
They totally just put words to Joey Sats tune. Not too bad though, still plagiarism in my opinion, but I kinda like it:

[Lukester]

Yup...too close for comfort.

[Windy City Irish]

wow. sounds pretty much the same mixed together except coldplay put the suckiness part to it

[walk066]

They have been talking about this for over a week on a Philly radio morning show and it's very clear they stole this. I heard rumors that Coldplay does this all the time.

[Mendoza Line]

Always liked Joe Satch. Never really cared for Coldplay. Hope Joe gets a fat check outta his lawsuit.

Anyone remember when Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. for ripping off "I Want a New Drug" and turning it into "Ghostbusters?" Huey cashed big. They were the exact same song! Poor Ray. Biggest hit of his life, and he got no profits.

I also remember when The Verve had their biggest (only) hit with "Bittersweet Symphony" and it turned out that the main instrumentation was an orchestral Rolling Stones song that they just pitched down. Jagger and Richards got all that money.

One that's always bothered me is Jet's "Cold Hard Bitch" is a ripoff of Deep Purple's "Woman from Tokyo." Same 30-second intro, same main riff. Deep Purple shoulda sued.