Friday, December 5, 2008

Satriani sues Coldplay


According to BBC News, guitarist Joe Satriani has finally sued Coldplay for allegedly lifting one of the main riffs from his 2004 song 'If I Could Fly' and using it to build their song 'Viva la Vida'. The uncanny similarity came into light soon after the release of the Coldplay album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, earlier this year. Several people posted videos (mash-ups included) on YouTube to make their point. Including this one here:



Incidentally, another lesser-known band called Creaky Boards also accused Chris Martin and Co. of lifting the very same riff from their song, 'Songs I Didn't Write'. Bizarre, eh!

In the suit filed on December 4 in LA, Satriani is seeking damages and "any and all profits" from the alleged plagiarism. Ironically, the night before, Coldplay had notched up seven Grammy nominations, including one for Song of the Year, for - yes, you guessed right - 'Viva la Vida'.

Go, Joe, go!!

1 comment:

Brian said...

Not the first time though. They've been doing it for years. I.E. Coldplay's "Talk" and Kraftwerk's "Computer Love". Not sure if that one was licensed (don't think it was) but there is no respect in taking a melody completely and just changing the words.