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Coldplay Vs Joe Satriani: The Verdict!
12:38 PM GMT 12/12/2008
Plagiarism, legal lunacy, or just a case of two useless applications of one duh-obvious idea? MOJO’s Mat Snow decides…
WITH THE END OF THE WORLD as we know it rattling all four sets of hooves, it was reassuring to learn that, even in these uncertain times, where there’s a hit, just as surely there’s still a writ. Last Thursday Joe Satriani filed court papers in LA claiming that Coldplay's hit Viva La Vida used "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly. The stunt-guitarist wants a jury trial and is seeking damages and "any and all profits" for the alleged plagiarism. In this day and age, where everybody is just a premium-rate call or text away from having a say, why stop with just 12 angry men? We all want our two cents. Let the court rise…
Exhibit A: the monster mash
Unusually for a set of fingers famous for fizzing down the frets, Joe was slow to punch his lawyer’s number. His fans, however, have been on the case since June when not only was the resemblance between his 2004 tune and the Coldplay hit noted in blogposts, but a smart alec mashed the two tunes together (to get them exactly in sync, Coldplay were speeded up to borderline Chipmunks pitch) and uploaded it to YouTube. Good game! But did Coldplay actually, to use that terrific Swiss Army knife word for disreputable deeds, ‘jack’ the Satch’s track? Let precedent be our guide…
Grand theft auto?
In 1969, John Lennon paid tribute to one of his all-time heroes, Chuck Berry, by adapting the first line of the future bathroom voyeur’s You Can’t Catch Me for the first line of his own Come Together (“Here come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly”) on The Beatles’ Abbey Road, a tip of the titfer from a disciple to his master which acknowledged a groovy classic and enriched the tradition without impoverishing the original by so much as a cent in financial or cultural credit. And how did Chuck’s publisher, Morris Levy, respond? By proving copyright law an ass with a suit which forced Lennon to record a whole album of tunes from his catalogue. Fortunately, that album was the wonderful if currently unfashionable Rock’N’Roll.
But with Satch vs the world’s second-favourite U2 soundalikes (after U2), we’re not talking one line. We’re talking the entire chord progression and basic melody — like the man says, "substantial original portions".
Self-abuse?
Twenty years ago John Fogerty found himself suing his own be-denimed ass for plagiarism when his old Fantasy label boss, Saul Zaentz, submitted that the new Fogerty tune, The Old Man Down The Road, ripped off an old Fogerty tune, Run Through The Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a Fantasy recording. Armed with his guitar, the Fog took the stand to demonstrate to the jury that while a cloth-eared money-grubber might not be able to distinguish one choogling tune from another, people who actually bought records surely could. Fogerty won (and lost).
Sadly, in the current instance, I could find no proof that “Satch” and the band who seem to have inspired no affectionate nicknames whatsoever among the fans (not even “The Coldies” or “The ’Play”) are one and the same.
The sweet Lord’s inspiration?
Tunes – they come out of thin air, don’t they? So said George Harrison when accused by the publishers of The Chiffons’ He’s So Fine of copying the gal-group classic for his Krishna-worshipping global smash My Sweet Lord. No dice, son, said the US federal court. Likewise Rod Stewart’s unsuccessful defence of his hit Da Ya Think I'm Sexy against a plagiarism suit from Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor proving its derivation from his song Taj Mahal.
When the law establishes the legal similarity of one song to another, the copyright-owner of the second song has little defence against charges of copying from the first, however far removed the artists are in genre and circumstance. So even if you cannot imagine Keith Richards sitting down to enjoy the wistful Sapphic elegance of kd lang, you can’t deny the possibility that he might have half-cocked an ear to her 1992 hit Constant Craving if his missus had it on the kitchen radio when he popped to the fridge for a fresh blood transfusion. Hence the Stones’ forestalled any legal action just before the release of their 1997 single Anybody Seen My Baby? by cutting in lang and co-writer Ben Mink to the credits, a simple courtesy and painless payday that moved kd to declare herself "completely honored and flattered".
The verdict
It doesn’t look good for the British Grammy hopefuls. Sure, the idea of Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland bending a studious ear to a Satch album and deliberately copping his tune sounds far-fetched. But that’s no defence in law. Copying doesn’t have to be conscious, still less cold-blooded. Coldplay’s best tactic might be to admit that Viva La Vida’s chord sequence is embarrassingly bog-standard, and the melody follows it with all the inevitability of the bleeding obvious. In other words, second-rate musical minds might easily and innocently think alike. But if I was on that jury of hard-working joes plucked from honest jobs (if they’ve still got ‘em) to decide between a self-made all-American trick-bag axeman and a bunch of atheist Brits whose stock in trade is making marriage to your very own Gwyneth Paltrow the recipe for unending and lucrative miserabilism, well… need I say more?
The sentence
Fortunately, the American fondness for litigation is matched by their judicial creativity in apportioning redress. If the Coldplay tune is one of the most half-arsed in a long and dreary list of forgettable worldwide Number 1s, Satch’s If I Could Fly is no Beck’s Bolero either. But jam them together and you have a full and glorious arse of a record to stick in your iPod next to Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ and Boston’s More Than A Feeling. Make ‘em do it, your honour, with proceeds to the charity of Satch’s choice. Justice is blind, but no reason for it to be deaf.
Mat Snow
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 12:38 PM GMT 12/12/2008
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Comments
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Mat strong and well thought out piece but: "second-rate musical minds might easily and innocently think alike" you're referring to two artists who in their respective sectors have literally pulled up tree's with their music (cue a list of your 1st class artists)
Posted by James Page at 12:19 PM GMT 15/12/2008 Report Abuse
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Mat Snow, I don’t know what planet you are on but it is very clear to me you have NO IDEA what you are talking about and should get your facts straight before typing out your ‘verdict’.
Posted by John smith at 12:00 AM GMT 16/12/2008 Report Abuse
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wow john and james are a bit hot under the collar. i think matt is trying to point out that both the coldies and shredder man are extremely dull, thus why care.
What are peoples' thoughts on the coldies rip off / ruin of 'computer love' a kraftwerk song on their last album, and i'm sure some of mojo's favorite mr dylan's melodies and chord progressions are not exactly original.
but lets make martin pay. satch for xmas no.1
Posted by Jonny Buckland at 4:52 PM GMT 16/12/2008 Report Abuse
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i'm going to have to agree with James and John on this one
Posted by Jonathan R. at 12:58 AM GMT 02/01/2009 Report Abuse
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This is a superbly written article. The expression and creative humor are first rate. In the endlessly multiplicative musical realities of a guitarist like Satriani, it is not so surprising that an identical theme was hit upon within the fabric of his compositions. It makes sense that he took so long to address the alleged plagiarism, it probably took him as long to search his own catalog for it.
Posted by scareport at 2:37 AM GMT 02/01/2009 Report Abuse
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Mat(thew),
As unintelligble as the piece you showed me on A Flock Seagulls in 1982, I think it was.
Can't you get a proper job?
Hugh
Posted by Anonymous at 2:57 PM GMT 19/01/2009 Report Abuse
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Excellently written and you are absolutely correct when you describe both artists in question as "second-rate musical minds might easily and innocently think alike". Lets face it, its a shit tune and shit chords and I'm not surprised that Satch Guitar-Wank and Coldshit came up with the same shit.
Posted by PeeWee at 10:54 AM GMT 11/02/2009 Report Abuse
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Can anyone ever write a new blues song again?
No matter how you make it sound, those three chords in that style are bound to have a similar song with a similar melody somewhere.
If the blues guys can put up with the similarities and avoid suing why can't Joe and Coldplay get on with it?
Posted by Tommo at 7:55 PM GMT 15/02/2009 Report Abuse
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You are 100% correct. Go Mat. Coldshit as pee wee put it blatantly ripped off Mr. Joe. And should be sued. Sorry that's just the way that it is. It's the music business. And if you are just a so so music artist (referring to Coldplay) then you deserve a suing. And like some have said "Who really gives a shit" But your talking to a gal who thought Kid Rock should have got the grammy. So what do I know.
Posted by Ms.J at 8:15 PM GMT 17/02/2009 Report Abuse
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Well aren't you a pessimistic old fart. Frankly most of your comments don't seem to be about the actual case but about the slow and painful decline of modern music in todays society. Honestly you would think that the world is falling apart at the seams the way you carry on.
Forgive me for saying this but do you actually have a real job or is your only past time the constant abuse of two world class acts?
Untill I read this artical i had never heard of 'Matt Snow' on the other hand I had heard of both Coldplay and Joe Satriani both of which have made names for themselves and both of which have succeeded in doing what they love.
Unfortunately you aren't a musical genius so cheer up and get a proper job .
Posted by Beth at 9:53 PM GMT 20/03/2009 Report Abuse
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FUCK YOU ALL, Satch is the fuckin man how dare you call him a second rate musical mind. Unlike coldplay he actually knows what he is doing on an instrument, you fuckin cum-guzzling-faggit-ass-douchebag
Posted by Anonymous at 11:41 PM GMT 02/05/2009 Report Abuse
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FUCK YOU ALL, Satch is the fuckin man how dare you call him a second rate musical mind. Unlike coldplay he actually knows what he is doing on an instrument, you fuckin cum-guzzling-faggit-ass-douchebag
Posted by Anonymous at 11:41 PM GMT 02/05/2009 Report Abuse
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FUCK YOU ALL, Satch is the fuckin man how dare you call him a second rate musical mind. Unlike coldplay he actually knows what he is doing on an instrument, you fuckin cum-guzzling-faggit-ass-douchebag
Posted by Anonymous at 11:42 PM GMT 02/05/2009 Report Abuse
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the real question is "could Colplay's song exist without Satch releasing his?" The answer is an obvious yes. It is a common progression that has been used plenty of times. The melody in both songs is pretty simple and obvious so anyone could have come up with it if they were handed that progression. Satch needs to get over himself and pull his head in. Maybe he blew his royalties on some dodgy hair restoration cream and needs the money, either way he is being a tosser.
Posted by Bill at 6:04 AM GMT 06/05/2009 Report Abuse
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