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The Bottom Line…
Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for music plagiarism for the Verse section of their song, “Viva La Vida,” – claiming that the Chorus of his 2005 song, “If I Could Fly,” has the same; melody, harmony & rhythm.
Satriani’s Lawsuit states, “substantial original portions,” of his 2005 instrumental piece, “If I Could Fly,” were copied. The copyright infringement suit was filed in Los Angeles federal court on December 4. Satriani has asked for:
1). A Jury trial.
2). Damages.
3). Profits from Viva La Vida.
The general public’s response has been overwhelming! And, especially from guitar players around the world…
Is the Joe Satriani song too simular to the Coldplay song?
We’ll wait and see what happens…
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
IF THIS GOES TO COURT…
THE COURT’S VIEW WILL BE SOMETHING LIKE:
The music plagiarism trial court judge will need to hear and decide several facts presented by both sides for this case to establish a jury and then go to trial.
The court will approach comparing the music in lay terms. They will view only essential elements of what all music is based on. Music elements which establish the essence of a musical composition – making individual songs unique.
1). The music plagiarism trial court judge will hear and decide facts presented on by both sides.
JOE SATRIANI:
- The court will be presented with music plagiarism evidence on: Melody, harmony, rhythm, and to a lesser degree dynamics, (since these are the lay characteristics of music).
(a). First, the plaintiff (Joe) must show that the defendant actually, physically copied the plaintiffs work. (That will be tough). Who witnessed/knew that he, (Coldplay), actually did do it and will testify as to this when Satriani has his day in court?
(b). Second, the plaintiff must show that such copying was improper because it was of elements under copyright protection.
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_plagiarism
Don’t forget – the court will be viewing Coldplay as innocent when the trial starts. Maybe Coldplay didn’t do it on purpose?
Satriani will more than likely face tough challenges to win his case. The 2008 Coldplay song released to the public is certainly quite a match to Satriani’s piece. However, a court trial for music plagiarism is extremely complex…
Think about this… in 1997, The Rolling Stones were informed, (at a pre-launch party by Keith Richard’s son nonetheless), that they had unintentionally copied KD Lang’s 1992 song, “Constant Craving,” with their tune, “Anybody Seen My Baby.” Before the CD hit stores, The Rolling Stones immediately contacted Lang and worked out a retroactive song credit. K.D. Lang agreed on song publishing royalties with the Stones – since the songs were quite obviously sharing obvious primary elements of musical composition They were lucky – it was caught early on!
ON THE STREETS:
Ouside of court, this argument/lawsuit will probably all boil down to who you are a fan of. I would expect Coldplay fans might not think that the songs are too similar. And Satriani fans, (being made up of primarily guitarists & musicians), are going to be fairly off that the tempo, meter, chorus melody and the bulk of the chord changes of the Coldplay song are pretty much exactly the same as the chorus of a Satriani tune composed three years ago. Guitar players stand behind their fellow axe slingers till death, “You can have my guitar when you pry my cold dead fingers off of it.”
Don’t get mad at me if this video upsets you. (Coldplay fans) I’ve not made any 100% decisions that Coldplay copied anybody, (looks like a judge will decide that). I am only putting a few of the pieces of the music theory associated to these songs out there for people to talk about, think about, and hopefully understand the overall situation a little better.
DEC. 6th, 2008 Announcement:
I have disabled comments due to the increased swearing and vicious fighting between YouTube members, (Coldplay VS. Satriani fans). I have deleted all previously posted comments which had used threatening & vulgar language.
Please visit my Blog to read more and leave your comments!
Thanks for watching.
http://creativeguitarstudio.blogspot.com/
Duration : 0:9:22
[youtube OEGGFJLpbu4]
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
FEB. 11th, 2009 …
FEB. 11th, 2009 Announcement:
Coldplay ignored Joe S. (and the lawsuit) until they had to visit L.A. for the Grammies. When Coldplay found out Joe’s lawyer was planning to serve them at the Grammies (and get it on camera) Coldplay finally hired an international attorney to accept the case.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
DEC. 7th, 2008 …
DEC. 7th, 2008 Announcement:
I have disabled comments due to the increased swearing and vicious fighting between YouTube members, (Coldplay VS. Satriani fans). I have deleted all previously posted comments which had used threatening & vulgar language.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
In the video, I was …
In the video, I was incorrect in thinking that the meter and the harmony alone could warrant a plagiarism lawsuit… I did a little music plagiarism law research online and it is VERY difficult to prove music plagiarism in a lawsuit. Even getting it to a Jury trial will be difficult. This is an interesting case.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
not only am I for …
not only am I for satriani winning the case but I also learned a little music theory too! Thanks for the post!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Yes, thank you …
Yes, thank you Todithicus.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I think the issue …
I think the issue here is not whether Coldplay intended to rip off the song (it’s very unlikely), but whether the final result, regardless of its origins, is a copyright infringement of the original Satch piece. In that case, it doesn’t look too good for Coldplay.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
How can he copy …
How can he copy something that hadn’t been written/released yet?
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
You have played …
You have played guitar for 25 years or written your own music for 25 years? Because if you have played guitar for 25 years and never heard of Satriani, I don’t even know what to tell you. :S
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Because they just …
Because they just have the same chord progression, but not the same rhythm, or melody…
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Good Work Well Done
Good Work Well Done
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
So why doesn’t …
So why doesn’t Oasis just sue every band that’s used the Wonderwall Chord sequence? That’s about as reasonable as this case.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
they both sound …
they both sound like u2 ripoffs to me
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I seriously doubt …
I seriously doubt it. Coldplay with eight ears between them, plus all the production team, plus internet exposure=someone in that band has heard Satriani’s song. I’m sorry, there is just too much access to information out there for them not to have heard it before.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
haing played …
haing played electric guitar and written my own music for over 25 years, this is the first time i have ever heard Joe Satriani’s music – although I am more than aware of him as the ubiquitous endorser of guitar products throughout North American MI industry magazines. i imagine it would be rather easy for Britain’s Coldplay to have missed Satriani’s career ENTIRELY heretofore.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I meant to say 12 …
I meant to say 12 notes in a chromatic scale.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
So… if I take the …
So… if I take the famous, “Louie Louie” guitar riff move it to another key – keep the same rhythm and call it, “Wild Thing.” What the is that? I guess some sue and some don’t. If it were me… I’d WELL SUE – YEAH SATCH!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hey CTjones23,
…
Hey CTjones23,
You’re a total moron. These songs are 100% identical. Go watch the YouTube mash-up video by: “iGotSpaceLikeNASA” – “Viva La Vida vs If I Could Fly MashUp V.1″
Total Rip Off!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
great explanation …
great explanation teacher! I find that quite a fake, is pretty obvious coldplay didn´t think twice about the evidence, but it sounds the same and it has te same chord progression… suit´em all!!
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hey no problem, …
Hey no problem, just wanted to point that out. You take care also.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Well the other guy …
Well the other guy who responded to you was a bit rude — but he is correct, the chord progression is pretty much the same, same with the tempo and the melody is similar.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
well then take a …
well then take a music theory class fuckface!!
99% of chord progression is going to sound like 100% to an uneducated jury
also, melody and time signature are identical jackass
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I don’t even like …
I don’t even like Coldplay or Satriani, but I have to say this lawsuit is ridiculous. The songs aren’t even in the same key, the chord progression isn’t the same, and there are no melodic similarities. I think this has more to do with the state of commercial rock and its utter creative bankruptcy all across the board.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Also, even if he …
Also, even if he wins I’m not sure Coldplay copied this song, at least on purpose. There are thousand of songs that resemble each other. That’s just music…
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
Indeed you can’t …
Indeed you can’t really sue based on a chord progression alone since a chord progression can’t be copyrighted. On the other hand, melodies *can* be copyrighted, plus as you clearly showed on your video, the chord progression is the same.
I still think the melody is not similar enough for Satrinai to win this case, but it certainly will be interesting to see how this develops.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 am
I knew they were …
I knew they were extremely similar since I heard Viva la Vida, but I never thought Satch and his camp (I assume his management and such are involved) would get involved. The similarity is quite astonishing.