Coldplay Vs Joe Satriani in the Copyright Lawsuit

Looks like Coldplay can make a play turn hot too. Especially when it’s a game of lawsuit from another musician.

The band has fired back against allegations form one of the guitar Gods, Joe Satriani, of a copyright-infringement suit filed last week. In a statement released on Tuesday, the band responded by saying, “With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours.”

52-year-old Satriani filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Los Angeles. It says that the band’s Grammy-nominated song, Viva La Vida, contains “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 song, If I Could Fly. Satriani also said in an interview that hearing Coldplay’s tune “felt like a dagger went right through my heart, it hurt so much.”

He also added, “The second I heart it, I knew it was If I Could Fly. 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.” The guitarist, who already produce many great songs, wants a federal judge to order an accounting so he can determine how much money he may be owed, or else stop using the song.

Satriani’s lawyer, Howard E. King, made a response to the band’s statement, saying Coldplay’s public reaction was dramatically different from how the guitarist’s claims were treated before the lawsuit was filed. As King said, “We attempted to have a dialogue on this before we went public. We felt almost forced to file suit. As far as the ‘coincidence,’ ultimately that’s for a jury to decide.”

The song Viva La Vida has been so popular, being at the peak of many charts since it was released. And it has sold nearly 2 million copies in the United States alone. Announced last week, the band was nominated for seven Grammys, including album of the year and record of the year for the title track.

Well then… in this battle, may the right man wins! No matter what, long live life!

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