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Joe Satriani vs. Coldplay

DJ_NevilleCDJ_NevilleC 1,922 Posts
edited December 2008 in Strut Central
Who do you root for here?b, 21b, 21b, 21Guitarist files plagiarism lawsuit against Coldplayb, 21Fri Dec 5, 9:18 am ETb, 21LOS 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.b, 21Joe 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.b, 21Satriani's lawsuit demands damages and "any and all profits" related to the alleged copyright infringement.b, 21A representative for the band was not immediately available for comment.b, 21Coldplay'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.

  Comments

  • deathvalley90210deathvalley90210 398 Posts
    come on, even the people who like satriani aren't listening to anything he released in 2004.
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    people liked satriani?b, 21b, 21Fusk that I'm 'bout yngwie malmsteen all day every day!b, 21b, 21img src="http://coilhouse.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/yngwie_malmsteen_fai.jpg"1
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    [i]"Your honor, I contend that NO ONE bought Joe Satriani's 2004 release except his record label, and therefore, my client could NOT have heard his "If I Could Fly." THE DEFENSE RESTS!"
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    lol Satriani can't deal with the possibility that he and Chris Martin thought the same riff was good
  • nzshadownzshadow 5,526 Posts
    the thought of Chris Martin sitting at home with Gwyneth Paltrow and his kid called Apple all listening to Joe Satriani is f*ckin hilarious.
  • deathvalley90210deathvalley90210 398 Posts
    the 2004 album.b, 21b, 21img src="http://www.thefunkstore.com/CurrentCDs/StartUp/JoeSatriani-IsThereLoveCD.jpg"1 b, 21b, 21it's a sci-fi version of "can i borrow a feeling?"b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jonnygraem.gif" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21 img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/102/276445864_7d681eb925.jpg"1
  • SteadyMurphySteadyMurphy 205 Posts
    first 90210 steals portions from surfing with the alien and now this?!?!
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Why'd you post a pic of Jonny in this thread?
  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
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  • verb606verb606 2,518 Posts
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    b, 21
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21It seemed like the maker of that video was in support of Joe, but then he uses the douchiest pictures of him. Maybe all pictures of Joe are like that. After seeing that pic of his bass player, no wonder Joe keeps his head shaved. yeesh.
  • GrandfatherGrandfather 2,303 Posts
    A new challenger appears!b, 21object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
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    b, 21Why'd you post a pic of Jonny in this thread?
    b, 21
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21b, 21They call me the bald eagle of SHREDDING IT
  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    clash of the titans, definitely...
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21lol Satriani can't deal with the possibility that he and Chris Martin thought the same riff was good
    b, 21
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21seriously, like, how many words can you possibly make up if your alphabet is only 7 letters?
  • GambleGamble 844 Posts
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    h, 21
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    b, 21seriously, like, how many words can you possibly make up if your alphabet is only
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  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    As with all comments sections on YouTube, the ones on this are simultaneously hilarious and depressing. b, 21b, 21As someone who used to deal with this kind of thing for a living, I feel fairly certain that Chris and them will laugh this one off. Unless Satriani's commissioned a musicologist's report which contains overwhelming evidence to support the suggestion that Coldplay copied the Satriani song (and best believe that Coldplay will have already commissioned a similar report to refute such a notion), then all he's gonna get out of this is a big lawyer's bill. That chord progression isn't in any way original or unique to either song, and nor is the melody.b, 21b, 21Ironic thing is that, in my old gig, I had to deal with at least two instances where new or unknown artists got in touch because they'd written and recorded songs which they felt sounded similar to Coldplay songs and wanted to be sure there wouldn't be legal action if they released them. So I had to send them off to the band's management for review and, in both instances, the band said that they didn't believe the new songs had infringed theirs, and that the only real similarity was in the chord progressions. So, right there you have a band who, on one level anyway, clearly don't take the view that there's too much that's startlingly original about their music. With Satriani, I get the impression that people have been bending his ear about him being a genius for so long that he now believes everything that falls from his fingers breaks new artistic ground. A guitarist, of all people, should know how chord progressions, licks and melodic phrases can become so widely used as to become virtually public domain. Imagine if Chuck Berry had tried to sue anyone who'd copied his licks or riffs.b, 21b, 21Interesting/related story. A few years ago, a DAT turned up at the offices of the Chemical Brothers management. When they played it, it contained a bunch of their songs, with one crucial difference; some guitarist had dubbed a few tracks of non-stop, squiddly-diddly shredding and riffing over the top of them. The guitarist was Joe Satriani. Apparently the package also contained a "Hey dudes, let's JAM!" message from The Satch, which essentially said that, since his playing complemented the Chemicals tracks so well, as they could clearly hear, he thought it would be a really cool idea for them to work together. They politely declined Satch's offer.
  • pknypkny 549 Posts
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    b, 21[i]"Your honor, I contend that NO ONE bought Joe Satriani's 2004 release except his record label, and therefore, my client could NOT have heard his "If I Could Fly." THE DEFENSE RESTS!"
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21img src="http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p36/jonah2101968/misc/chewbacca-defense.jpg"1
  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    Doc, that was one highly entertaining post. Thanks for sharing.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    if those two songs, which sound remarkably similar to the Coldplay song, aren't infringed then what is an example of infringement? It is my understanding that if you use a set of chords in the same manner that it's infringement. Am I wrong about this? Cause if not I'd like to use Smoke on the Water in my next project.
  • Mad Drama TeacherMad Drama Teacher 1,985 Posts
    Yet folks on here have been known to flip the F*ck out if it's Led Zeppelin doing the "copying"...
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
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    b, 21if those two songs, which sound remarkably similar to the Coldplay song, aren't infringed then what is an example of infringement? It is my understanding that if you use a set of chords in the same manner that it's infringement. Am I wrong about this? Cause if not I'd like to use Smoke on the Water in my next project.
    b, 21
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Well, I'm not a forensic musicologist, but in my old gig I had to read and commission plenty of musicologist's reports, and cases like this one tend to go down a certain way.b, 21b, 21First off, chord progressions, in and of themselves, do not constitute what's called "protectable expression". Think of how many songs you've heard which share the same chords. Any case to support an infringement claim would depend upon how unique and original a particular chord progression is, and let's be real about this; we're hardly talking Monk here, are we? b, 21b, 21In this case, Satriani would need to prove not only that the chord progression and melody are original, but that they're the unique product of his skill, talent and labour. Any musicologist worth his/her fee would probably be able to find half a dozen examples of popular songs that use the same chords, and even my limited grasp of music theory is enough to know that the melody of both songs is derived from a pretty basic harmonic counterpoint to the chord sequence. If someone were to write a melody to those chords, there's a likelihood it would be very similar to that of both "Viva La Vida" and "If I Could Fly", simply because those notes are probably the first ones you'd go to. And Coldplay haven't got themselves a whole bunch of multi-platinum albums by avoiding the obvious.b, 21b, 21I think this is no more than coincidence - an unfortunate one, unless you're either Coldplay or Satriani's lawyers - but a coincidence all the same. Also, something I didn't realise until I saw this other Youtube clip is that the o.g. Satriani song isn't in the same key as Coldplay's. Dude who put together the clip upthread has done some timestretching/pitch-shifting to make the songs seem more alike than they actually are. It may seem like a minor point, but it's the kind of thing that makes a big difference if you're trying to prove that someone has actually copied your shit rather than inadvertantly written something which sounds similar. This other dude's claim that Coldplay "stole" from Kraftwerk is the kind of junior-detective bullshit which can be debunked just by looking at the credits on the album artwork, but I think Satriani will have to take the L on this one.b, 21b, 21object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1b, 21b, 21To address your original question, "Smoke On The Water" is, by comparison, a much more original and distinctive riff. Any attempt to bite it in a manner as obvious as this case appears would almost certainly result in a successful infringement claim by the wronged parties.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21A new challenger appears!
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    b, 21
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Guilty. Those fuckers.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    OK, now this raises the question; why aren't these no-marks and Satriani suing each other? b, 21b, 21To which the answer is; neither has sold over 5m copies of their current album.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    img src="http://i35.tinypic.com/j663a9.jpg"1
  • DJ_NevilleCDJ_NevilleC 1,922 Posts
    Coldplay responds to copyright lawsuitb, 21b, 21By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writerb, 21b, 21NEW YORK ??? Coldplay has fired back against accusations they copied another artist's work for their hit "Viva La Vida."b, 21In a statement released on 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."b, 21"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."b, 21Satriani, 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.b, 21In 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.b, 21"We attempted to have a dialogue on this before we went public," King said. "We felt almost forced to file suit."b, 21"As far as the 'coincidence,' ultimately that's for a jury to decide," he added.b, 21King 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.b, 21"It doesn't mean you don't owe something to the original composer," he said.b, 21Coldplay is one of the world's top-selling pop acts, and their latest CD, "Viva La Vida," has sold nearly 2 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.
  • MassiveMassive 194 Posts
    This is hilarious.b, 21b, 21Either:b, 21b, 211. Satriani's sales are at an all time low and dude needs cash;orb, 21b, 212. His attorney needed some billable hours.
  • GnarliamentGnarliament 375 Posts
    VINDICATED!!!b, 21b, 21object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1
  • funkfromthesunfunkfromthesun 212 Posts
    I knew it. F*ck Coldplay.
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