Men at Work accused of plagiarism over 'Down Under'

It's one of the most iconic Australian pop songs of all time, but a legal spat has broken out over whether the Men at Work song 'Down Under' is actually a rip-off of a children's song.

The '80s anthem rocked its way up the worldwide charts, but the manliness of the song about beer and women has been brought into question by claims it's a Girl Guides song.

Lawyers say 'Down Under' is a rip-off of the children's classic 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' which was written in 1934 by Melbourne music teacher, Marion Sinclair, for a Girl Guides competition.

Ms Sinclair sold the rights to the song to a music publishing company called Larrikin before she died and now Larrikin wants compensation from Men at Work's labels Sony, BMG and EMI for lost royalties.

The music giants say when Sinclair gave the song to the Girl Guides it became theirs and she no longer has any copyright entitlement.

The case has begun in Melbourne's federal court where the legal argument will come down to semantics.

Does 'Down Under' use a "substantial" part of the tune or not?

If Men at Work lose, the 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' owners will have the last laugh. The commercial success of 'Down Under' could mean millions of dollars in compensation.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Man at Work
• Down Under
• 80s
• manliness
• song
• Lawyers

[directconnection1969]

Oh crikey hell they don't even sound the same at all! OMG this is complete BS! I sure hope somebody gets an ass whoopin' over this. Men At Work are the bomb and don't deserve this! I hope Kookaburra gets a serious beatdown for this and the old gum tree gets chopped down and turned into firewood! Hell yeah mates! LMAO

[westonband]

Anyone notice that he's playing the riff in the video while sitting in an old gum tree (0:49)? Coincidence? I think not... They knew what they were doing... they just never thougt it would be a problem to sample an old childrens campfire song...

[XCILE625]

im confused

[johnny07652]

Crikey, mate! Good on ya! Slip another shrimp on the barbie fo' ya! I'll 'ave a pint o' Fosters an' a vegemite sandwich mate!

[cryingmushroom47]

@davidfgranger ahahhaa..That's how New Zealanders speak. It's retarded

[59771006]

Colin Hay did say at a solo concert that he did that the flute riff was taken form the kids song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" and that lead to Men At Work getting sued so if Colin Hay had've kept his mouth shut Men At Work would not have been sued.

[StefanR10]

Down Under is own by Men at Work

[Revelnoc]

Aye' ..and Jack and Jill went up a Hill, is a rip off', of Stairway To Heaven ...F'in people annoy me so they dae ....anything for money ....better watch you don't drop your guitar, or Pink Floyd might sue you ..ha ha

[davidfgranger]

Min at work? Fideral court? They're clearly not similar enough for it to be plagiarism.

[aspectsdecor]

@westonband learn music you ass you know nowt about music

[zac724]

@westonband your acting like its completely impossible to create a like riff in a time span of about 50 years out of the millions and millions of possibilities that have already been copyrighted? How bout you get your head out of your ass for once in your life, dumb ass.

[PrimalCircus]

Unbelievable!! Only a few notes match up. Do the people in the courts not realize that we musicians only have a choice of a few notes to make music with?! There are millions, if not billions, of songs written; many have a few consecutive notes in common.

The awful part of this is that the person who wrote the song died and sold the rights to a publishing company. It is the publishing company who has taken legal action. The person who wrote the tune is not getting paid from the settlement.