Coldplay's Alleged Plagiarism Was A 'Dagger Through My Heart,' Joe Satriani Says; Chris Martin Denies Wrongdoing

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JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

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Jul 3, 2003
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Text

Guitarist Joe Satriani, who sued Coldplay for plagiarism in a Los Angeles court last week over allegations that their song "Viva la Vida" borrowed the melody from his song "If I Could Fly," said in a new interview that he was shocked the first time he heard Coldplay's tune. Meanwhile, in an interview taped before the suit was filed, Coldplay singer Chris Martin insisted the band did nothing wrong.

"I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," Satriani reportedly told the Music Radar Web site. "The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] 'If I Could Fly.' " But Satriani said he wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity, claiming that "almost immediately" after Coldplay's album came out last summer, his e-mail was flooded with people asking, " 'Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off, man.' I mean, I couldn't tell you how many e-mails I received."

Satriani said, "Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious. It's as simple as that ? when you listen to a song and you say, 'Wow, that's a real rip-off.' "

One of the reasons Satriani told the site he was so upset was because he had spent more than a decade working on "If I Could Fly" before he demoed it in 2003 and recorded it as a tribute to his wife, Rubina.

"That's what really hurts about this whole thing," he said. "That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it ? and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own." Satriani called the intense media response to the action "the weirdest thing I've ever been involved in" and said he did everything he could to avoid filing suit, but claims that "Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted the whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know ... But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way."

The fact is, Coldplay have talked about it ... kind of. During a recent "Nissan Live Set" on Yahoo.com ? filmed before the suit was filed ? singer Chris Martin refers to a "Moe Batriani" in defending the band's honor against charges that they borrowed someone else's melody. (The line occurs about 3:30 into the Q&A.)

"When we finished the song 'Viva la Vida,' our only hit single, we knew that was good," Martin joked, referring to an earlier question about the band's confidence in the songs on the Vida album. "And I will maintain that till my dying day, that it's not that bad. Although we are being sued by about 12 people who say that we stole it, though I promise we didn't. Including ... I probably shouldn't say [laughs]. I can't tell you, I can't tell you, but it rhymes with Moe Batriani."

A Coldplay spokesperson has not responded to MTV News' requests for comment on the lawsuit.
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acheron

acheron

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May 27, 2008
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You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

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Jul 3, 2003
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Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

I really don't care either way.

I just hate Coldplay and wanted to say that. :laugh::p
 
acheron

acheron

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May 27, 2008
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Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

I really don't care either way.

I just hate Coldplay and wanted to say that. :laugh::p
Click to expand...

Heh. My first thought when I read about this was "If everyone whom Coldplay stole from sues them, they'll be in court a long time."
 
T

Tooncesthedrivingcat

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Oct 11, 2007
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Originally posted by: acheron
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

I really don't care either way.

I just hate Coldplay and wanted to say that. :laugh::p
Click to expand...

Heh. My first thought when I read about this was "If everyone whom Coldplay stole from sues them, they'll be in court a long time."
Click to expand...

Same with LZ!
 
Gibson486

Gibson486

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Aug 9, 2000
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Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Text

Guitarist Joe Satriani, who sued Coldplay for plagiarism in a Los Angeles court last week over allegations that their song "Viva la Vida" borrowed the melody from his song "If I Could Fly," said in a new interview that he was shocked the first time he heard Coldplay's tune. Meanwhile, in an interview taped before the suit was filed, Coldplay singer Chris Martin insisted the band did nothing wrong.

"I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," Satriani reportedly told the Music Radar Web site. "The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] 'If I Could Fly.' " But Satriani said he wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity, claiming that "almost immediately" after Coldplay's album came out last summer, his e-mail was flooded with people asking, " 'Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off, man.' I mean, I couldn't tell you how many e-mails I received."

Satriani said, "Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious. It's as simple as that ? when you listen to a song and you say, 'Wow, that's a real rip-off.' "

One of the reasons Satriani told the site he was so upset was because he had spent more than a decade working on "If I Could Fly" before he demoed it in 2003 and recorded it as a tribute to his wife, Rubina.

"That's what really hurts about this whole thing," he said. "That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it ? and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own." Satriani called the intense media response to the action "the weirdest thing I've ever been involved in" and said he did everything he could to avoid filing suit, but claims that "Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted the whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know ... But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way."

The fact is, Coldplay have talked about it ... kind of. During a recent "Nissan Live Set" on Yahoo.com ? filmed before the suit was filed ? singer Chris Martin refers to a "Moe Batriani" in defending the band's honor against charges that they borrowed someone else's melody. (The line occurs about 3:30 into the Q&A.)

"When we finished the song 'Viva la Vida,' our only hit single, we knew that was good," Martin joked, referring to an earlier question about the band's confidence in the songs on the Vida album. "And I will maintain that till my dying day, that it's not that bad. Although we are being sued by about 12 people who say that we stole it, though I promise we didn't. Including ... I probably shouldn't say [laughs]. I can't tell you, I can't tell you, but it rhymes with Moe Batriani."

A Coldplay spokesperson has not responded to MTV News' requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Click to expand...
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yeah, someone posted a link to it...I just shrugged it off as "music will be foreber recycled..", but then i clicked the link and I was like, "how do you get away with that"? I mean, come on....it worse than Oasis' rip off intro in "Don't look back in anger".

SIgh...I guess that is what happens when a band relies on sample tapes, though.
 
C

CptObvious

Platinum Member
Mar 5, 2004
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I find it hard to believe that anyone would rip off one of Satriani's cheesy tunes.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

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Jul 3, 2003
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Originally posted by: CptObvious
I find it hard to believe that anyone would rip off one of Satriani's cheesy tunes.
Click to expand...

I find it hard to believe that anyone likes Satriani...or Coldplay for that matter.

Edit-I'll admit, I haven't listened to much Joe Satriani and couldn't name a single bit of music by him that I've heard.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

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Jul 3, 2003
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Originally posted by: acheron
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

I really don't care either way.

I just hate Coldplay and wanted to say that. :laugh::p
Click to expand...

Heh. My first thought when I read about this was "If everyone whom Coldplay stole from sues them, they'll be in court a long time."
Click to expand...

:laugh::thumbsup:
 
magnux

magnux

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Sep 12, 2002
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Originally posted by: CptObvious
I find it hard to believe that anyone would rip off one of Satriani's cheesy tunes.
Click to expand...

Nice troll bait.

 
V

Vegitto

Diamond Member
May 3, 2005
5,234
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As a guitarist, I think Satriani is right. It's god-near impossible for two people to come up with the exact same thing (because if you look at it musically, it is) at such a suspicious time.
 
B

brandonb

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Oct 17, 2006
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The lead guitar on Joe Satriani is not found in Coldplay's song. The only thing left is the rhythm guitar, and they are identical, but its only like 4 crappying chords that just about everybody uses in music.

So my question is, why is Joe crying about it?

D-D-C-C-G-G-F-F repeat for eternity.
 
Gibson486

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
1
0
Originally posted by: brandonb
The lead guitar on Joe Satriani is not found in Coldplay's song. The only thing left is the rhythm guitar, and they are identical, but its only like 4 crappying chords that just about everybody uses in music.

So my question is, why is Joe crying about it?

D-D-C-C-G-G-F-F repeat for eternity.
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no...did you actually listen to his solo? It's how Chris actually sings it as well.....

Also...there really is no lead guitar in that coldplay song.
 
nakedfrog

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
60,979
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Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

Is that a fact?
 
acheron

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Originally posted by: acheron
You can't win a plagiarism suit unless you have conclusive evidence that they really did steal from you. Just sounding alike is not enough -- it could be a coincidence, both parties could have been inspired by a third source, etc. It would be really tough for Satriani to win.
Click to expand...

Is that a fact?
Click to expand...

http://volokh.com/posts/1228596396.shtml is where I read about it originally. One of the commenters there says:

The My Sweet Lord / He's So Fine case seemed to really hinge on the presence of idiosyncratic similarities--the Court characterized them as being akin to "copying a mistake," namely, the bridge to the next octave in both songs. And so the Court concluded that Harrison must have subconsciously copied. I see the similarities in the Satriani and Coldplay songs as being more broad than idiosyncratic--it's basically two lines. While it seems likely that Coldplay copied, I don't know whether it forces the same conclusion as in Bright Songs v. Harrison, and thus Satriani would need to rely on some sort of evidence that Coldplay copied.
Click to expand...

IANALBMWI. (I am not a lawyer, but my wife is. :p )

 
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