Coldplay May Get Served Lawsuit At Grammys

Coldplay may get served legal papers at this weekend's Grammy Awards.

Last year guitarist Joe Satriani alleged that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" borrowed a little too heavily from his "I Just Wanna Fly." Satriani's lawyer Howard King is planning to blanket the Grammys with servers to hand the band a plagiarism lawsuit.

Fox News reports:

King says, "We have warned their British lawyers that we have hired a fleet of process servers lined up to dog the band everywhere they go this weekend in the hopes of serving them."

King even promises to have camera crews roaming around with the process servers to get the whole thing on tape.

Coldplay denies the charges.

Read about Satriani's complaint here.

Hear a song comparison:

Comments

[philosopherkingtomas]

kanye's new song is a complete copy!

[Propagandhi]

kanye comes readily equipped with auto-tune wherever it may be.

[TTM]

Maybe Satriani should collaborate with Gunther:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XnhFR73wOs

[Politisizer]

Today I have instructed my lawyer to serve papers on Satriani for plagiarism. I hummed a tune a bit like his song back in 1984 and I want satisfaction. I won't be happy if I can't get no sat-is-faction.

[rr00]

I am a songwriter, and I do believe that there are enough similarities in the melody [especially the phrasing] to warrant Satriani's action.

I'm biased, though. Coldplay is a terrible band. They've already lifted much from U2 and Radiohead.

[swyftdahoe]

Agreed. Coldplay is terrible. Wannabes.

[publanski]

I don't really like either, but it sounds like plagiarism to me. It's to much of a copy.

[swyftdahoe]

A music theory comparison­..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEGGFJLpbu4

[RobinSeattle]

Coldplay is toast.

If their attorneys don't settle this out of court then they are guilty of malpractice.

You just cannot rip off a Joe Satriani and get away with it.

[dentuso]

In related news, Satriani is intending to sue Chris Daughtry, Vin Diesel, Yul Brenner, Midnight Oil and Telly Savalas for other intellectual property infringements.

[NoSillyName]

LOL. Satriani was hot when he had hair. The others, not so much.

[ranch111]

Coldplay is really a bad band, but mediocraty rules. Sappy, whiny, terrible lyrics with crappy piano. If Coldplay really didn't lift this chord progression, they would willingly go to court to prove their case. Instead, they are hiding and running.

[jweider]

They're CD's should come with a free bottle of Prozac.Rea­lly depressing stuff.

[jweider]

I meant their, not they're. sorry

[NoSillyName]

Not to mention a singer with no range or power to his voice.

I still see an exercise tape in Martin's future.

[TTM]

If Coldplay is sued by Satriani for plagiariazing Viva La Vida, then Satriani might be sued over If I Could Fly by Enanitos Verdes. Ultimately, it all goes back to Cat Stevens:

1. Coldplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE

2. Satriani:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMcjXo8ZuqE (0:48)

3. Enanitos Verdes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57CgtX-BsI (0:34)

4. NKOTB:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXmCOXQcmVE (0:42)

5. Marty Balin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTp0P5xMHog

6. Babik Reinhardt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cgy8TBr_dk

7. Cat Stevens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXda-RTE_c (3:14)

[swyftdahoe]

Thanks. I'm not sure any of these cases are as compelling as Coldplay stealing from Satriani.
Thus, the issue might not be that Coldplay stole from Satriani (because they all steal back to Cat Stevens), but because Coldplay stole the most obviously. Or maybe they just both stole from earlier renditions and ended up with the same mutation.

[dentuso]

You can't have a four-chord progression and precise melody as a band twenty years prior (Balin), then sue another band for that progression and melody. Satriani (I suspect under advice from his agent) is making a complete fo ol of himself.

[deepfreezevideo]

LOL @ Enanitos Verdes use of the porno sounding wah wah but yes there is a distinct similarity and much more so than Coldplay.

[Zillacabra]

You forgot Gunther!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCw7TNS_LA

[vinny]

not enough of the cold play song to compare the melody...

[Terriers and Bariffs]

Maybe then Radiohead could sue Coldplay for ripping off their entire bag.

Then maybe Coldplay will go away. Boring white preppies already have Dave Matthews. Coldplay is just a reserve stash of lameness.

[deepfreezevideo]

Politically correct boring white preppies have Hootie and the Blowfish.

[swyftdahoe]

Seen this before and the evidence is undoubtedly clear. Coldplay totally stole from Satriani. It's so obvious it ain't even funny.

[dentuso]

http://theopenend.com/2009/01/31/coldplay-vs-joe-satriani-who-owns-the-descending-melody/

You might want to check this out before you join the "I'm Joe Satriani and I look like an idi ot" Club.

[hypster908]

Well done...but I wouldn't be surprised if Satriani won his case.

[arspar183]

i still, after all these years, don't hear any resemblance in Beatle George's My Sweet Lord and the Chirrelles He's So fine. George got screwed!!!

[NoSillyName]

Chiffons.

[Heady]

That itty bitty ting! It's not the same!

[Propagandhi]

"Ice Ice Baby" VS. "Under Pressure" 2009

[milo h minderbinder]

Not really, since those two were practically identical. I always thought it used a sample of the earlier song, didn't realize they created it from scratch with a tiny variation until I just looked it up now. In that case they settled out of court with some cash changing hands.

[NoSillyName]

MC Hammer vs Rick James.

[alexis d]

Joe, this doesnt make you look good.

[swyftdahoe]

Get outta here. Stealing intellectual property makes Coldplay look terrible in all of this.

[TTM]

Here is where Satriani got the melody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57CgtX-BsI (0:34)

[DS3M]

Please, and being repeat offender Thieves makes Coldplay look great here, huh?

As a musician, I find coldplay offensive for numerous reasons, the least of which is their horrible music. No, I find them majorly offensive for releasing songs made by other people, but co-opted without any credit.

And before I hear about rap music this or that -
At least Dr. Dre and those artists have the intestinal fortitude to admit that they lifted the idea, melody, riff, lyric, chorus, etc. They have the good sense to list all of the samples used, their sources, and make the appropriate payments to the owners of the music to use the pieces.

I said goodbye to Coldplay as a real band some time ago