"Joe Satriani's lawsuit against Coldplay has been dismissed from court, according to reports. The legendary guitarist had previously claimed that Chris Martin and co ripped-off his 2004 song "If I Could Fly" for their 2008 single "Viva La Vida". A jury trial was expected to take place following the legal challenge, which was issued in December. However, international news sites are now claiming that the California Central District Court have decided against pursuing with the prosecution. This suggests that an out-of-court financial settlement may have been reached by both parties with Judge Dean Pregerson." [Yahoo News]

With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours. Coldplay.

"I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," Satriani says. "The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] If I Could Fly."

As it turned out, Satriani wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity between If I Could Fly and Viva La Vida.

"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.' I mean, I couldn't tell you how many e-mails I received.

"Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious. It's as simple as that - when you listen to a song and you say, 'Wow, that's a real rip-off.'"

What makes the situation especially painful for Satriani is that If I Could Fly isn't just any song. It's a composition he'd been laboring over for well over 10 years before he recorded it.

"I started writing it on the Flying In A Blue Dream tour back in 1990. But because of the way I write, sometimes songs take a while, as this one did. In 2003 I started demoing it in earnest. I played it on the acoustic guitar on a demo so I could sing the melody, then I demoed it on electric to get the sound. And the performance turned out to be so spontaneous, so right and so emotional, that it wound up being a keeper."

..."That was the intent all along," he says. "It was a love letter to my wife, Rubina - a simple, direct expression of feeling.

"That's what really hurts about this whole thing. That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it - and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own."

"Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away." Joe Satriani... [the interview continues @ Music Radar]

So now Joe is suing. Watch a video comparison of the songs in question HERE. Watch a video comparing Satriani's guitar solos to Kirk Hammett's below...

Continue reading "Joe Satriani on Coldplay: 'felt like a dagger.through my heart'"

A noted guitarist has sued members of Coldplay, claiming the band's smash hit "Viva La Vida" copied parts of one of his songs.

The copyright infringement lawsuit by Joe Satriani was filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles.

The 52-year-old claims Coldplay copied "substantial, original portions" of his 2004 song, "If I Could Fly." The Coldplay hit, which was nominated for a Grammy this week, has topped charts around the world and been used to sell iPods in commercials. [AP]

Lawsuits suck, but I can't help thinking the idea of Joe Satriani suing Coldplay is awesome. And this is the second time Coldplay have been publicly accused of ripping off the same song from someone. The first, as you may remember, was NYC's own Sidewalk Cafe regulars the Creaky Boards, who, became YouTube-famous after posting a video comparing Coldplay's song to theirs. Joe didn't make a video, but someone else did for him. Watch both of them below...

Continue reading "Joe Satriani sues Coldplay, check out the video comparison"