Coldplay Slapped With Plagiarism Lawsuit

12/05/08 2:27pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued Coldplay for plagiarism.

Satriani filed a lawsuit on Thursday that claims Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" rips off "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 Is There Love In Space? album. Satriani claims Coldplay's song "copied and incorporated substantial original portions" from "If I Could Fly." He wants a jury trial for the case and is seeking "any and all profits" Coldplay have made off the track.

Coldplay haven't responded to the lawsuit.

Coldplay were nominated for seven Grammy Awards on Wednesday. Two of the nominations were for "Viva La Vida," which picked up record and song of the year nods. The track hit #1 in the U.K., U.S., the Netherlands and Israel. It was a top 10 hit in 13 other countries, including Canada, where it peaked at #4.

New York's Creaky Boards earlier claimed Coldplay frontman Chris Martin must have got the melody for "Viva La Vida" after attending one of the band's shows and hearing them play "The Songs I Didn't Write." Creaky Boards didn't sue Coldplay over the matter, but singer Andrew Hoepfner made this video:

Here's Satriani's "If I Could Fly" and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." You can decide for yourself if they're similar or not.