Joe Satriani Sues Coldplay for Plagiarism

[Braincase]

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/160...coldplay.jhtml

Dec 5 2008 9:27 AM EST
Coldplay Sued By Joe Satriani For Allegedly Plagiarizing 'Viva La Vida' Melody

Guitarist claims the Grammy-nominated song is a rip-off of his track 'If I Could Fly.'

By Gil Kaufman




Not long after Coldplay's Viva la Vida album hit shelves this summer, the blogosphere exploded with suggestions that the title track bore a striking resemblance to a 2004 instrumental track by rock guitarist Joe Satriani titled "If I Could Fly."
Now, Satriani has accused the band of copyright infringement in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, according to a Reuters report.
A day after the Coldplay album was nominated for seven Grammys, including Record and Song of the Year for "Viva la Vida," Satriani's suit claims that "Viva" incorporates "substantial original portions" of his track "If I Could Fly," from the Is There Love in Space? album.


Satriani, 52, is seeking a jury trial in the dispute, as well as damages and "any and all profits" attributable to the alleged copyright infringement. The songwriting credit on the Coldplay song is attributed to the band's four members: singer Chris Martin, bass player Guy Berryman, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion. A spokesperson for Coldplay could not be reached for comment at press time.
Satriani isn't the only artist who has claimed the Coldplay song was eerily familiar. Around the time of the album's release, a lesser-known New York band named Creaky Boards claimed that Martin had attended one of their gigs and would have heard the tune "The Songs I Didn't Write," which also bears a similar melody. At the time, Coldplay's spokespeople denied that Martin was at the gig and said the band had written "Viva" several months before that show.


Here's a nice link to a youtube comparison of the two songs.


Based on my observation, Coldplay better get their checkbook out.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by HMc

Phony, as in, holding yourself out to be something that you aren't? That kind of phony?

You've made a fairly good fist of that in this thread, actually.

And considering that Planet members have been to my home and actually KNOW me, your "argument" holds absolutely no weight.

As usual.

[HMc]

Oh, I never suggested your shit-talking was a recent phenomenon.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by HMc

Oh, I never suggested your shit-talking was a recent phenomenon.

I know.

And you're in the minority, shark-boy.

It must suck to be in Australia because apparently, you have nothing better to do.

[HMc]

Says the guy posting along with me (sort of destroys that nothing better to do sledge) at what, 11:50 on a saturday night? You really are a superstar, aren't you?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by HMc

Says the guy posting along with me (sort of destroys that nothing better to do sledge) at what, 11:50 on a saturday night? You really are a superstar, aren't you?

Considering I'm 43 and have an infant daughter, I'd say yes.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Question of the Day:

James and Lars; can the suckage grow to even greater heights? Is there truly no bottom to the levels of suckage and uselessness that these two turd-whackers can continue to peddle as "music"?

Will Metallica one day be the best-selling elevator music ever pumped in to the Assisted Living Center?

Discuss.

[mcan]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

First off, 4/4 does NOT refer to Tempo, as I stated earlier. It refers to Time Signature. Both songs are at the same exact TEMPO, meaning the same exact beats per minute. That is exclusive from time signature. That is no coincidence.

It's pretty clear that you and I aren't even having the same discussion, if you're merely trying to venture a guess as to who will win in court, then you're probably right. You seem to know more about the law. I've never even read the law, and I'm not trying to guess as to what will happen.

What I'm trying to do is go back and look at exactly WHAT is similar between the two songs.

1. They have the same chord progression.
2. Both songs use the same 3 note melody as a hook.

---------------------------------
Edit: I feel bad for going on the attack
---------------------------------

I'd still like to point out that the tempo of the two songs as they were recorded are NOT the same. The "mashup" that has been posted on youtube used programs to speed up Satriani's song and slow down Coldplay's song so that they would match.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by Silock

For once, I totally agree with everything Dane has said about something.

As a musician, I cannot fathom how anyone can NOT hear the obvious similarities.

I am NOT a musician and I cannot fathom how anyone can NOT hear the obvious similarities...

[Silock]

Originally Posted by HMc

I'm surprised that such a hotshot hollywood executive who knows more about IP than but a mere few on the planet (earth) would use a case to make a point when he wasn't aware that the case didn't actually make it to judgement.

If they didn't have a case, why would they have settled? That doesn't make any sense. If they could have won, they would have.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by mcan

Okay. If that's against the law, then whatever... You would know better than I would. What I'm saying is that it SHOULDN'T be against the law. That's an opinion.

If the law didn't state "Lyric and Melody", then it would be legal to steal the melody of any song and use it in another. The overwhelming majority of music listeners (non-musicians) identify a song by its melody, not the underlying chord protection.

So essentially in your world, the person who created the unique melody wouldn't be protected by law. And intellectual property would have no value.

No thanks.

[Taco John]

Why is it that every thread Dane gets involved in, there's a 50% chance that it's going to devolve into a pissing match about just how cool he thinks he is?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Taco John

Why is it that every thread Dane gets involved in, there's a 50% chance that it's going to devolve into a pissing match about just how cool he thinks he is?

Every thread?

This from Taco John?

[mcan]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

If the law didn't state "Lyric and Melody", then it would be legal to steal the melody of any song and use it in another. The overwhelming majority of music listeners (non-musicians) identify a song by its melody, not the underlying chord protection.

So essentially in your world, the person who created the unique melody wouldn't be protected by law. And intellectual property would have no value.

No thanks.

See, this is more the discussion I was hoping for. I went a little overboard on the attack last night. Deleting soon.

I don't think that the melody has been "stolen" enough to prove that there was any intent to steal. Those first three notes are blatantly and obviously the same. That's what Joe's suing for. I just think that's a bit too stringent of a law, and it does all songwriters everywhere a disservice. How many notes in a row are too many. Two notes in a row can't be the line, or else every single interval would already be copywritten. I think the standard for accusing somebody of stealing should be set way higher. Maybe 5 or 7 identical notes in a row. And probably a lot higher than that if the song is in a straight and common key or if the melody consists entirely of rest tones of the chord. There's just no way that a musician can still be a decent artist and bear the burden of knowing every single possibly combination of 3 notes that's been used by every previous musician that's come before him.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

I call Artist Importance Priority:

Satriani is a virtuoso and composer.

Coldplay is a quirky, snooze-fest band that for some reason have garnered a rep as something akin to Pink Floyd.

Judgement: PLAINTIFF.

[TinyEvel]

Has anyone posted the "getcha popcorn" smiley yet?

Because if not...