Cat Stevens ponders Coldplay lawsuit
p2pnet news view Music:- The Viva La Vida controvery is back on the front burner. With a new player.
If Joe Satriani is successful in his plagiarism suit against Coldplay, Cat Stevens may follow in his footsteps.
In December last year, Joe Satriani accused Coldplay of nicking one of his riffs, claiming the latter’s Viva La Vida used, “substantial original portions” of his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly.
He wanted a jury trial and damages and “any and all profits,” for the alleged plagiarism, said the BBC.
The track was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, it says.
Now, to muddy the waters even more, Cat Stevens says Viva La Vida sounds like his 1973 song Foreigner Suite, although he, “stopped short of saying he would sue for plagiarism,” says Billboard.
“My son brought it to my attention, Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam after his conversion, says in the story. “The song definitely sounds like it. It has such logical chords and the melody has to be what it is…”
Says The Guardian, “Whereas Viva La Vida is bombastic arena-pop and If I Could Fly is noodly guitar soloing, Foreigner Suite is something even worse – an 18-minute folk-jazz opus. Though the strains at 5:20 are indeed reminiscent of Coldplay’s song, they are short-lived – and take place over a vaguely Latin beat, played with, er, woodblocks.”
But, “The singer-songwriter seems content to complain to the tabloids and hasn’t announced any plans to take legal action,” says the story, adding:
“Islam even borrowed one of Coldplay’s production team, mixer Michael H Brauer, to work on his new album. ‘[Michael] is brilliant,’ Islam said. ‘He won a Grammy for [Coldplay's] record’.”
“On the other hand, it may just be a matter of time. Islam has a history of challenging infringements on his copyright, most recently against the Flaming Lips. After noting similarities between their 2003 song, Fight Test, and his 1970 hit Father and Son, the two parties agreed to a royalty split.”
nicking one of his riffs – Joe Satriani accuses Coldplay of plagiarism, December 5, 2008
BBC – Guitarist Satriani sues Coldplay, December 5, 2008
Billboard - Cat Stevens May Sue Coldplay: ‘It Depends On How Well Satriani Does’, May 5, 2009
The Guardian – Coldplay accused of plagiarism by Yusuf Islam, May 5, 2009
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May 5th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
To the administration of “http://www.p2pnet.net”:
This message is a written request asking you to cease and desist in making the article “Cat Stevens ponders Coldplay lawsuit” (http://www.p2pnet.net/story/21106) available to the public. The article is a clear plagiation of my 3rd grade essay “Tim the dog”, which contains the phrase “My son brought it to my attention” and which also incorporates the motif of a person telling something to another as one of its central points, making the article as a whole a clear plagiation of my work and thus infringing my copyright.
If you fail to comply with this request, I will seek legal action to be compensated for damages and any and all profits made by your website.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Sorreeee.
Cheers!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
@F.Palmer:
if only that could be popular in the media… people *might* get the sarcasm and realize the stupidity of suing people for something similar (like Lindows and Windows and M$ sued over a name).
People need to chill! They act like children in the playground who can’t get along with other children “mine, mine mine.”
Oddly, this past weekend, while discussing the consumption rates of North Americans in general (primarily focused on food but our consumption in general is extremely excessive), we concluded that we North Americans are the seagulls of the world; eating, shitting, and squawking, and adding to that “mine, mine, mine.”
No insults to those who are not excessive, just a general trend readily noticeable in the North American population.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
“mine, mine, mine”
Sorry. Can’t allow that here. It’s a blatant copyright infringement of a line in Fining Nemo. Or is it Finding Nemo?
Cheers!
May 5th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
“Fining Nemo. Or is it Finding Nemo?”
IPHQNE FTW!
May 5th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
No wonder Chris Martin has been complaining about being followed by a moon shadow lately.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:44 am
I listened to both songs, and was leaning toward Satriani’s side until the chorus, where it was absolutely obvious Coldplay stole the tune. Hit the :50 second mark on If I Could Fly.
With that said, I’m not sure I agree with a lawsuit over it. There has to be some protection against some idiot rebranding just anything, but these are both great songs.
It all comes down to the honesty of the band and whether they’re too proud to admit they incorporated someone else’s work into their own.