SATRIANI HEARTBROKEN AFTER COLDPLAY 'PLAGIARISM'

Last updated: Tuesday, December 9, 2008

SATRIANI HEARTBROKEN AFTER COLDPLAY 'PLAGIARISM'

Guitar legend JOE SATRIANI was devastated upon hearing COLDPLAY's song VIVA LA VIDA for the first time - because he immediately recognised the song as his own.

Joe Satriani performing live in concert, Bueno Aires, Argentina - 260708

Satriani filed a suit at Los Angeles federal court last week(04Dec08), claiming the Yellow hitmakers copied segments from his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly to use in their 2008 hit track Viva La Vida.

Satriani - who has played with Sir Mick Jagger and Deep Purple - is seeking a jury trial, damages and "any and all profits" because the track includes "substantial original portions" of his song.

The guitarist maintains he never intended to instigate a full-fledged legal battle - but was forced to after the Chris Martin-fronted group refused to address his concerns.

He tells Music Radar, "Everybody assumes I'm trying to go after these guys in Coldplay, as if I'm doing this with malice - that's the furthest thing from my mind. I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song.

"I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know. But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important."

And the 52-year-old insists he was heartbroken after hearing the band had allegedly ripped off his tune.

He adds: "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much. The second I heard it, I knew it was If I Could Fly.

"Almost immediately, from the minute their song came out, my e-mail box flooded with people going, 'Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off man.' Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious."

Source: WENN

| Tuesday, December 9, 2008

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SATRIANI HEARTBROKEN AFTER COLDPLAY 'PLAGIARISM'

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