Satriani is suing Coldplay

[Fishy]

Yaaaay! I mean really, how pissed off would you be if someone got nominated for a Grammy for a song that you wrote?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7766683.stm

For those of you who never heard the song, here's a before after:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofFw9DKu_I

Even if you don't think its an exact match, you've got to admit its pretty close at worst.

[EdgeCrusher]

Basic chord progression. Another person has already tried to sue over this song as well. Satriani should know better. I do feel better knowing that gay ass coldplay is the one getting it if by some odd chance this does go through though.

[OceansAndrew]

Give em hell, Danimal!

[Fishy]

EDIT: let me rephrase

A LOT of the coldplay song relies on the same chords/melody/rhythm/tempo as the satriani chorus.

[Bleck]

the satriani song has like ten seconds of song where it sounds like the coldplay one

[audio fidelity]

i honestly would think it's a coincidence - but to satch's fairness he wrote the melody and chords first so i think he's entitled to something

[Dustin H]

i don't know if this will hold up in court or not. i find myself somewhat neutral in this. on one hand, it does sound very similar, but on the other hand, you can't copyright a chord progression.

[1337 1]

Am I seeing a similarity between that thread from not so long ago about the similarity of one of the FF7 songs, and the batman theme, and this thread?

[Sinewav]

the satriani song has like ten seconds of song where it sounds like the coldplay one

This.

The first part of Satriani's melody is the same, but then it goes off in a completely different direction from Coldplay's. It wouldn't surprise me if that part of the Coldplay song was "inspired by" (aka ripped off from) Satriani's song... but on the other hand, it's a simple enough melody that it would surprise me if Coldplay had never heard the song before and the whole thing was merely coincidence.

[Bigfoot]

This just in, Chrono Trigger Composer Yasunori Mitsuda copied Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" to make Robo's Theme.

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=1274

/sarcasm

[WillRock]

Interesting...

I think it may be coincidence tho.

[Fishy]

To be honest I think it might be, the main reason I'm all up for the sueage is because its a pretty standard tune, and yet Coldplay make million's off it and Satriani makes very little. I really don't think its worth a Grammy.

[DusK]

4 notes. 4 notes, only 3 of which are consecutive, are the same per refrain in that section. Joe Satriani's an idiot if he thinks 3 notes are are a "substantial portion" of his song.

[DarkeSword]

The rest of the song is different. It's only the first few notes of the melodies and the chord progression that are the same.

If using the same chord progression as someone else is plagiarism, then you can throw pretty much every songwriter since the 1950s into prison right now.

[JJT]

To be honest I think it might be, the main reason I'm all up for the sueage is because its a pretty standard tune, and yet Coldplay make million's off it and Satriani makes very little. I really don't think its worth a Grammy.

I'm looking forward to seeing Joe on the cover of the next Guitar World headlined "Satch show's you the hot legal briefs that took him to the top! Page 78"

[anosou]

This just in, Chrono Trigger Composer Yasunori Mitsuda copied Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" to make Robo's Theme.

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=1274

/sarcasm

I lol'd.

Honestly, Stariani's an obvious ass. It degrades musicians everywhere to do like this :/ I mean before the romantic period (19th century) it was ENCOURAGED do rely on standards. And something relevant: it's a VERY basic melody+chord progression, the melody is only similar. As Shariq said, if this is a valid reason for suing everyone should sue everyone and it'd be very hard to make chord-based music anymore.

Honestly, it's mostly sad.. I guess he really needs that money..

[Darth Lime]

I remember reading an article a while back and Coldplay themselves said the use other bands work as "inspiration" for their songs.

Interpret it how you like.

If someone could help me out on the article, that would be great.

[Bigfoot]

I remember reading an article a while back and Coldplay themselves said the use other bands work as "inspiration" for their songs.

Interpret it how you like.

If someone could help me out on the article, that would be great.

That's the thing, because I'm pretty sure a lot of bands use other artists as inspiration.

[Antipode]

EDIT: I think this should have been called Rocket Roll

[Bigfoot]

Embedding is disabled for that video btw, so you have to click the link to view it.

[Antipode]

The auto-embedding on this forum is kinda annoying sometimes...

I wasn't trying to embed that.

[Bigfoot]

I know, I was just letting others know just in case.

[K.B.]

If the Stones can kill the Verve, then anything is possible. Admittedly the similarities between those two were more apparant, but if they're entirely different songs then this suing business is a load of bs, imo.

I hope this gets canned.

[Hector]

Considering the sheer volume of music produced every year, coincidences are bound to occur.

However, this is also a very effective way for Satriani to generate new buzz for his song--even if the charge is poorly supported. It's good marketing at least.

[The Vagrance]

Honestly, sounds like a coincidence to me. The melody isn't anything extraordinary nor is the progression. Its also suspicious that this is only being brought up now that its being nominated for a grammy, rather than when the song was released as a single and near the top of the charts.