Joe Satriani sues Coldplay
Guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani has filed a lawsuit against Brit-rockers Coldplay alleging plagiarism. Satriani is claiming Coldplay lifted substantially from his track “If I Could Fly” when they recorded their hit “Viva la Vida“.
Satriani is seeking “any and all profits” from the song. Coldplay has been at the top of the charts and has 7 Grammy nominations, so it’s likely we’re talking a tidy sum.
We’ve got both songs via YouTube. You be the Decider!
The video below has comparative sections from both “Viva la Vida” and “If I Could Fly”. Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments!
Via Yahoo! News
Tags: coldplay, if i could fly, joe satriani, viva la vida
Is there even an argument?
Its like singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the alphabet song at the same time. The exact same thing. One more reason why Coldplay must go far, far away.
Agree it’s pretty similar and I think Coldplay should have to come to some kind of licensing term with Satriani too. Maybe not “any and all profits” since Coldplay’s version is a substantially different take on the melody but there should be some compensation.
“Coldplay’s version is a substantially different take on the melody” only because Chris Martin can’t shred like Satch
Seriously though all he did was simplify Satch’s melody I was a bit dubious until I watched the video wondering why Joe would sue Coldplay but it is pretty convincing evidence!
Definitely similar for the basic melody, but it’s not necessarily the most challenging or original melody I’ve ever heard. My initial thought is: “What are the thoughts that Coldplay has listened to Joe Satriani??!?!?”
Admittedly, it’s a ripoff, but I don’t think it’s that complex of a melody to justify a lawsuit. I mean it’s not like they stole Always With Me, Always With You. One can imagine that multiple people could come up with this melody independantly given the same starting key, beat, and mood.
Let’s face it, there are tons of songs out there that have very similar melodies, even much closer than these two, but a LAWSUIT????? If Joe’s pissed that Coldplay copped his tune and made a boatload more money on it than he did, he should hire a lyricist instead of a lawyer. Or, maybe he is going for a Gibson endorsement and wants to prove that he can litigate with the best of them??
Don’t get me wrong, I love Satch. But I’d rather see him in the studio than the courtroom. He should just write a song about ripping off other people’s music and mention Coldplay in it. People will forget all about the lawsuit, but the song will live forever.
Just my insignificant opinion.
Interesting way that you merged the two songs. Makes a strong case that they are similar, but I’m not sure it’s enough to claim that Coldplay plagiarized or derived the work from Satriani.
Reminds me of the old lawsuit of the Chiffon’s 1963 hit “He’s so Fine” vs George Harrison’s 1970 song “My Sweet Lord” which was eventually ruled as “unintended copying” in favor of the Chiffons. (And ironically, the Chiffon’s catalog was at this point owned by Alan Klein.)
–Zack
PS. I have posted video of Coldplay including Viva La Vida from their recent Phoenix concert here:
http://www.guitarvibe.com/2008/12/coldplay-live-in-phoenix.html
Plant and Krauss Bring It On Home | Fretbase: Guitars, Tabs, Chords and More – February 9th, 2009 at 10:09 am
[...] since they feel it’s a rip-off of Satriani’s If I Could Fly. If you missed the news, Satch sued Coldplay at the end of 2008 for copyright [...]
Satriani’s melody came from a Cat Stevens song so why is he complaining about music theft.
Cat Stevens’ Love/Heaven circa 1973. It is towards the end of the song where Cat has this great melodic line that somehow ends up being the same melody to Satriani’s song.
The only reason that Satriani is mad is that this song was written for his wife. Maybe he should tell his wife where he stole it from and see what she says.