Joe Satriani calls Coldplay to court over alleged riff lifting...

Guitar legend Joe surfing with the alien Satriani is tuning up Coldplay in court over their alleged copying of one of his riffs.

The title track from Coldplays latest effort Viva La Vida contains parts that Satriani alleges lifts "substantial original portions" from his instrumental If I Could Fly, a track he laid down in 2004.

Says Lance Corporate:
Given that theres only one band that is less talented and less deserving of the level of attention they command than Coldplay, it wouldnt surprise me at all if the latter had resorted to lifting a riff from somewhere. The former? Trust me, you dont want to know.

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[SirGougeAlot]

The issue for these songs, (unlike the Cat Stevens, Balin, Enanitos Verdes, etc.), is that the Coldplay chorus section shares the same; Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Meter, Beat and Tempo, as the Satriani piece.

There are next to no songs that share this many of the elements of music, and therefore it will be very interesting to see what becomes of all of this in court as the case progresses.

[LanceCorporate]

Hi SirGougeAlot - thanks for that - an excellent explanation!

[dcr9999]

Would it be fair enough to say that with all the music that has been written that there are at least a dozen bands who could claim some other band or musician ripped off their music. Think about the last time you heard a new song and said to yourself "wow that sounds like.....".

[LanceCorporate]

yeah totally agree. I saw a band playing last night and it was aeasy to see the influences on the music - particularly Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand.

Art doesn't occur in a vacuum - so songs will always be influenced to a certain degree. Even to the point of sounding the same - take the genres of trance or black metal - loads of those songs are very similar.

Its when the influence crosses the fine line into outright emulation that there is a problem.

[xxRockst4r]

Satriani is a one man band and kicks coldplays fag asses any time

[numbcheese]

His song has same chord progression, same rhythm, same temp, and same melody.

[NoShelter15]

I like Coldplay and I like Satriani. People can be so fucking stupid over shit like this. Coldplay is unique, so is Satriani

[caravaggio31]

Satriani is an 'improved in rock quality' copy from Enanitos Verdes, it is identical.

Period.

Sue Joe too. The copy is obvious.

[LanceCorporate]

I'd like to see those examples too. And why do they matter? Are you arguing some abstract social justice concept in which the more common plagiarism is, the more acceptable it becomes? Or are you saying that theft - if it's only a little bit - is OK?

[shreddalizer]

examples?

[Plankondrums]

actually satriani is in a band right now (chickenfoot) en they make awesome music!! and steve vai used to play with zappa

[anonxerenrichment]

........... It is so retarded that it's beyond belief. Joe Satriani may genuinely believe that Coldplay stole from him but in truth he is a retard. Seriously... There's countless examples of two songs even more similar than Viva La Vida and If I could fly..