I feel kind of sorry for some of the bands this happens to. Its a lot more likely the producers ripped the music off and said "Hey, I have this great sound you should use". Having said that, when its found out and you have a big name/band and they have been using some unknown persons creations, I think its up to the band to come out and say "Hey, we are very sorry" instead of just ignoring it all.
Yeah, I agree in principle...but admitting guilt in public is a good way to make sure you lose your civil suit.
Hmm.......lets see.....similar rhythm......same key.....same hook....... .....makes for a great mix though!
I think in order to for this to be considered blatant plagiarism, the next chord progression in both the Coldplay and Satriani song would have to be similar. For example, the Chiffons successfully sued George Harrison for ripping off "He's So Fine" in his "My Sweet Lord." If you listen to the two songs, not only is the first part similar, but the second part as well. Most of the other plagiarism cases I've heard about centered around the lyrics, so Satriani doesn't have precedent on his side. But it is pretty damn close (do the tempos actually match that perfectly or was it manipulated to make the point?) and I wouldn't mind seeing Diet Radiohead lose this one.
I hear the similarity, but the songs are more different than the video gives credit for... plus, to be cheap about it, the guy who made the video sped up the coldplay song to match with the tempo of the satriani song. Similar? Yes. Illegally similar? No.
If I'm wrong someone please correct me, but the two parts to a song that you copyright are the words and the melody. It sounds like the melody is a direct copy so I bet it's actionable. Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. because the Ghostbusters theme song sounded similar to "I Want a New Drug" and those two songs don't even sound near as close as the Coldplay/Joe Satriani songs do. In autumn 1984 and throughout 1985, Huey Lewis successfully sued Ray Parker, Jr. for plagiarism, citing that Parker stole the melody from his 1983 song "I Want A New Drug".
eh, it sounds the same but when we're talking pop music hasn't everything been used by now? are there new riffs available? granted that riff is the total hook of coldplay's song but as a whole song it's not completely ripped off. joe has a gripe though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMcjXo8ZuqE that's the full satriani song, in the interest of fairness... comparing snippets ain't gonna cut it.. i hear about 30 seconds of similarity... judgment for the defendant.
Velvet Revolver Settle Plagiarism Case, Pay Another Band’s Bassist Lead Singer-Worthy Money We don’t know who the next singer of Velvet Revolver will be, but he or she may want to avoid putting the Contraband song “Dirty Little Thing” on future set lists. The band has reportedly settled a plagiarism case with U.K. rocker Tony Newton, bassist of the band Voodoo Six, that alleged VR stole the riff and melody of “Dirty Little Thing” from Newton’s own “Cyber Babe,” which he wrote for his previous band Dirty Deeds. “A couple of years back, a mate of mine in L.A. called me to say he’d heard what he thought was my song on the radio, and that he had been a bit shocked when he realized it was Velvet Revolver,” says Newton. “When I checked it out myself, I genuinely couldn’t believe it, because it wasn’t as if it was close… it was basically the same riff. Anyway, I called my publishers to check whether they knew anything — which, of course, they didn’t — and then basically left it with them. I never really expected to hear any more about it and was as surprised as anyone when I heard that Universal had settled with Velvet Revolver.” And what a settlement it was: Newton will receive 20 percent of all royalties from Contraband and the single dating back to 2004, plus all future royalties on the song from commercial uses, live performances, digital sales, etc. He’s essentially being paid like he’s a member of the band, even though he never picked up an instrument for them.
Seriously, how many riffs are left out there in the world? At some point, some of them are going to start sounding the same. And call me crazy, but I don't picture Coldplay as being big Joe Satriani fans. I doubt they've ever even heard that song. Now if you want to talk about Weezer's Beverly Hills ripping off I Love Rock N Roll, then you've got something...
Is it true that Satriani tried contacting them for six months and they never got back to him? If so, then I cant blame him for his lawsuit.
Kings of Leon >>> Coldplay Wouldn't surprise me at all if Coldplay ripped off Satriani. They're huge hacks.
When i listend to the comparison I thought man what a rip but after listening to the whole song by satriani, he only uses that riff like what? ONCE in the song? as a whole the two songs are completely different.
