Joe Satriani sues Coldplay

[Shawn]

LOS ANGELES – A noted guitarist has sued members of Coldplay, claiming the band's smash hit "Viva La Vida" copied parts of one of his songs.The copyright infringement lawsuit by Joe Satriani was filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081205/ap_en_...ht_infringement

Here's a YouTube clip showing the song comparison...I think Satch has a chance with this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofFw9DKu_I...feature=related

Edited December 6, 2008 by Shawn

[7/4]

Sounds like they ripped him off.

dB

[.:.impossible]

Definitely similar, and I probably wouldn't have ever heard a single note from Satriani for the rest of my life had I not clicked on that link, but is this a legal issue?

[Shawn]

FWIW, Satriani's original is not original to begin with. That chord progression & melody weren't some kind of singular work of genius. You could probably pick out a few dozen songs that are nearly identical. It's that messed up thing w/ pop music: we demand originality, but it can't be too weird. Aren't we tired of the guy who comes up w/ a 1-4-5 being lauded for his brilliance?

The only person that mentioned "brilliance" is you.

[Nate Dorward]

Chords are not copyrightable, but melodies are.

[.:.impossible]

The melodies don't sound exactly the same to me though. How many notes have to be the different before it is considered a different melody?

[Jim Alfredson]

What's funny is that Satriani song reminds me of that Santana / Michelle Branch tune... rhythmically, at least.

The first part of the melody is quite similar. I wouldn't be surprised if a court rules in his favor, though the melody itself has been used before.

[BruceH]

I'd say if they lose, Coldplay can afford it.

[7/4]

Take 'em to the bank Satch!

dB

[Shawn]

Maybe one of our resident musical geniuses can compare the melodies of these two?

[Big Al]

When I read the story in the paper this morning, my first thought was that Satriani plays so many thousands of millions of notes per second, just about ANYbody could be plagiarizing him without even knowing it.

[rachel]

no question.

[Shawn]

Coldplay's response:

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

Bullshit

[Chuck Nessa]

Yesterday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe the Cold Play version was used as a "bump". My ears perked up.

[Uncle Skid]

When I read the story in the paper this morning, my first thought was that Satriani plays so many thousands of millions of notes per second, just about ANYbody could be plagiarizing him without even knowing it.

[GA Russell]

Pretty nifty the way the YouTube clip superimposes the two recordings!

But it's just one line. Don't you need to borrow more than one line to infringe on a copyright?

[Shawn]

Pretty nifty the way the YouTube clip superimposes the two recordings!

But it's just one line. Don't you need to borrow more than one line to infringe on a copyright?

It's a melody line, I'm pretty sure that's enough.

[GregN]

I keep thinking I've heard that melody elsewhere...could be mine.

[Jim Alfredson]

The melody has been used before, I'm almost certain of it. It isn't unique to Coldplay or Satriani. That said, they will probably lose this one if it goes to court.

[clifford_thornton]

The superimposition really makes the case.

[Uncle Skid]

Well, Coldplay can always call

for some legal advice.

[Dan Gould]

All I can tell is that both "artists" suck donkey dicks, if you'll pardon the expression.

:bad:

[Noj]

It's a simple enough melody that I'd actually buy the coincidence defense--plus I imagine Coldplay might be the types who haven't delved into the Satriani discography. Find the Satriani tune on one of their iPods or in their cd collection, then they've got a case. Unless of course, a tune with the same melody preceding both can be found--then someone else has a case.

[Free For All]

It's a simple enough melody that I'd actually buy the coincidence defense

I agree. a lot of bluster over a very simple and undoubtedly common melodic fragment. and really just the first two bars- the rest of the phrase is different in the two versions.

[rachel]

However, George Harrison was found to have 'unconsciously' copied the Shirelles' "He's so fine" with his "My Sweet Lord" and the only similarity to those two songs is just a phrase. I don't believe Coldplay set out to copy Satriani; yes, it could be coincidental, but so was Harrison's. Even if it's a 'catchy phrase', who owns the copyright?

I bet this gets settled and you won't hear anything else about it.

typo

Edited December 11, 2008 by rachel