All Rise: Satriani versus Coldplay Is In Session...

[Smiling Assassin27]

Joe Satriani Says Coldplay “Figured This Little Guitar Player Guy Will Leave Them Alone”

12/8/08, 11:01 am EST




Joe Satriani has opened up about his plagiarism lawsuit against Coldplay, calling it the “weirdest thing I’ve ever been involved in.” Satriani credits his rabid fan base for bringing the similarities between Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” and Satriani’s own “If I Could Fly” to his attention. “Almost immediately, from the minute their song came out, my e-mail box flooded with people going, ‘Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off man.’ I mean, I couldn’t tell you how many e-mails I received,” Satriani said.

Making the supposed copycatting even more hurtful to Satriani is that “If I Could Fly” took almost a decade to complete and was intended as a love letter to his wife. “I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it — and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own,” the guitarist told Music Radar. As for Satriani bringing the lawsuit to court, “I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn’t want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don’t know.” To help heal his emotional wounds, Satriani is seeking “any and all profits” the Grammy-nominated “Viva La Vida” has generated.

[Garcia Bronco]

Are they really the same?

[Smiling Assassin27]

Dude, the hook is damn near identical. Scary.

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008...ay-satria.html


Try that.

[Rohirrim]

Those notes are so elementary it's ridiculous to claim plagiarism on them. How many blues songs go G,C,G,C,G,D,C,G?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Satriani has a pretty good chance of winning this one if you use Bright Tunes v. Harrisongs as a precedent.

[ghwk]

After watching and hour of Palladia last night and seeing back to back to back videos of Coldplay, Nickelback, Goo Goo Dolls and Daughtry you can't even tell them apart. Their music is basically so whiny, the singing style is the same, guitar styles the same. Blah I dislike them all really boring sugar music. I hope Satriani wins.

[Hogan11]

Originally Posted by ghwk

After watching and hour of Palladia last night and seeing back to back to back videos of Coldplay, Nickelback, Goo Goo Dolls and Daughtry you can't even tell them apart. Their music is basically so whiny, the singing style is the same, guitar styles the same. Blah I dislike them all really boring sugar music. I hope Satriani wins.

After 60 some odd years of Rock 'N' Roll, it's basically impossible to find something that's not highly derivative from something else and still be considered part of the genre. Which is why a lawsuit like this is somewhat ridiculous. Too bad George Harrison wasn't still around to elaborate upon it further as he definitely had first hand knowledge of such situations..check out this video and song where he made fun of things like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsUkACDSIZY

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

There's a difference between simply being "derivative" and outright copying of a significant or defining part of a composition, e.g., the melody of a song and its harmonic progression.

I'm not a fan of either Satriani or Coldplay, but it sounds like JS has a good chance of winning this suit.

[Hogan11]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

There's a difference between simply being "derivative" and outright copying of a significant or defining part of a composition, e.g., the melody of a song and its harmonic progression.

I believe the definition of derivative is something that's copied or adapted from others. Highly derivative means to the extreme, so I fail to see the difference...but to each their own I suppose.

I'm not a fan of either Satriani or Coldplay, but it sounds like JS has a good chance of winning this suit.

I doubt it but we'll see....it's not a first for Coldplay, who are probably the most blatent riff theives in popular music since Elastica. However, if they did lose, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Hogan11

I believe the definition of derivative is something that's copied or adapted from others. Highly derivative means to the extreme, so I fail to see the difference...but to each their own I suppose.

"Derivative" is a vague concept (which doesn't necessarily connote infringement or plagiarism or copying a part of another artist's work verbatim) whereas the legal criteria for proving infringement are a lot more specific than just showing that the style of a piece of music reflects the influence of other artists, earlier works, etc.

The plaintiff has to show that the defendant copied the most memorable or "meritorious" part of a song (which usually means the melodic motive, motif, or "hook.") The question of what part of the song is the "meritorious" part is usually established by testimony from expert witnesses.

That's why Coldplay could be in trouble here.

Originally Posted by Hogan11

I doubt it but we'll see....it's not a first for Coldplay, who are probably the most blatent riff theives in popular music since Elastica. However, if they did lose, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

Going by most of the precedents from infringement cases that have been won by the plaintiff, Satriani has a pretty winnable case. Beyond that, it's just a question of which side's expert witnesses can sell its case to a jury (and perhaps a matter of which side can outspend the other in the legal fees department.)