Joe Satriani Sues Coldplay For Plagiarism
Billboard.com is reporting rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued British band Coldplay, accusing the Grammy-nominated stars of plagiarizing one of his songs.
Satriani’s copyright infringement suit, filed yesterday (Dec. 4) in Los Angeles federal court, claims the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida” incorporates “substantial original portions” of his 2004 instrumental “If I Could Fly.”
The 52-year-old guitar virtuoso is seeking a jury trial, damages and “any and all profits” attributable to the alleged copyright infringement.
“Viva La Vida” is credited to the band’s four members, singer Chris Martin; bass player Guy Berryman; guitarist Johnny Buckland; and drummer Will Champion. The title was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
The Satriani track comes from his album “Is There Love in Space?” Further comment from Satriani’s attorney, or reaction from Coldplay’s management was not immediately available.
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Hard Rock Hideout 
Ah the video’s gone because of copyright. How ironic. Oh well. Both tracks are on Spotify. I say yes, he has a case. I’m surprised how many people have posted to say they don’t care.
No there is a big difference between Satriani and other widdly wah guitarists. My dad for instance is a lot more of a guitarist than me but doesn’t normally like widdly wah stuff. Satriani repeatedly makes him stick his head round my door asking who it is, because “he has a nice touch”.
I like widdly wah solos and I like a lot of stuff like Steve Vai that I wouldn’t defend to the hilt. But Satriani is a more imaginative composer and I am surprised that our allies in The Fight Against Moronic Shit From Coldplay would have missed that.
I can imagine 5 albums of Satriani in a row getting bland but I don’t know if it’s intended for listening that way. I know that one song of Coldplay is too much for me.
As much of a music fan that I’ve always been,…I don’t give a shit about a single tune by either Satriani or Coldplay. They both suck.
I was being facetious about the copyright thing, but the idea of Satriani being a guitar god is just received opinion. It’s been said so long that no one questions the idea anymore even though he gained his reputation at a time when the only thing anyone cared about was how fast he could play. He’s a bore. There’s a lot more that goes into being a great player than technical skill.
I’m not the biggest fan of Satriani. He has some cool songs, but for the most part I find his music solo boring. Sorry, that’s just the way it is (I hope “Chickenfoot” is better). However, that doesn’t give someone else the right to blatantly copy him. Check it out:
Bob, seriously? Satriani is a guitar God. No wonder Coldplay stole from them. I mean, Coldplay used to steal from themsleves (“Speed of Sound” Sounds so much like “Clocks” it’s not even funny), it doesn’t surprised me that they finally stole from someone who is actually talented.
Can someone really steal from a guy who doesn’t have a creative bone in his body? I guess if someone can, it’s someone else without a creative bone in their body. We should all sue both Satriani and Coldplay for sucking.