{"id":3534,"date":"2008-12-19T09:34:34","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T14:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iposgoode.ca\/?p=2695"},"modified":"2008-12-19T09:34:34","modified_gmt":"2008-12-19T14:34:34","slug":"who-copied-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2008\/12\/19\/who-copied-who\/","title":{"rendered":"Who copied who? Or is a Crowd of Four a mere coincidence?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

On December 4, the renowned guitarist <\/span>Joe Satriani filed a copyright lawsuit against the British rock group Coldplay. Satriani argued that a substantial part of his original instrumental piece, \u2018If I could Fly\u2019, was reproduced in the band\u2019s hit, \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coldplay faced a similar allegation earlier this year. The young <\/span>Brooklyn band, Creaky Boards, also saw \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019 as a substantial copy of their song, \u2018The Songs I didn\u2019t write\u2019. Unlike Satriani, Creaky Boards decided not to sue Coldplay. The only recourse the young band sought was to create a widely-circulated video on the Internet. The video<\/a> contained a modified version of \u2018The Songs I didn\u2019t write\u2019 with subtitles explaining the main allegations against Coldplay.<\/span>\u00a0In both cases, Coldplay responded that they had not copied any of the songs and that the similarities between the three songs could be explained by a mere coincidence. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Interestingly, <\/span>Los Enanitos Verdes<\/span>, a highly successful Latin American rock group, released<\/a> \u2018Frances Limon\u2019 back in 2001. \u2018Frances Limon\u2019 has the same catchy tune as the three songs above and its release predates the others. The question is: who copied who?\u00a0 Or could the four pieces be created independently?<\/span><\/p>\n

Under\u00a0Canadian copyright law, proving copyright infringement requires showing that\u00a0a substantial part of the copyrighted work was reproduced.\u00a0 Sufficient objective similarity between\u00a0the songs is one part of the inquiry.\u00a0 Another\u00a0crucial inquiry is whether the alleged infringer has consciously or subconsciously copied the work of the \u2018original creator\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

The issue of conscious or unconscious copying is a question of fact. However, direct evidence of copying rarely exists and\u00a0absent such evidence,\u00a0a court has to rely on\u00a0objective criteria for determining that copying occured. For example, whether a song melody is distinctive might inform the judge on the probability that a particular song could be independently created. This criterion was used in the English case <\/span>Francis Day & Hunter Ltd. and Another<\/em><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/span>v. Bron and Another<\/em>.\u00a0 There the trial judge had to decide whether a composer of the musical work \u2018Why\u2019 had unconsciously copied the main melody of the plaintiff\u2019s song, \u2018In a Little Spanish Town\u2019. The trial judge, who was upheld on appeal, concluded that the devices used by the two composers were \u2018among the commonest tricks of composition\u2019, which is to be expected from a composer of popular song. Thus there was at least an equal probability that it was a result of coincidence that the composer of \u2018Why\u2019 chose these same tricks. As a result, the trial judge held that the plaintiff had not proved on the balance of probability that the defendant consciously or subconsciously copied the plaintiff\u2019s work.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this respect, if Coldplay can prove that they used \u2018the commonest tricks of composition\u2019 to create \u2018Viva La Vita\u2019 then they would be very close to proving their case. Some commentators, such as Jeff Miers, have argued that similar to \u2018If I could Fly\u2019, \u2018Viva La Vita\u2019 relies on a single progression of chords that is widely used in popular music. Miers concludes that if a composer \u2018happened upon such progression, the melody practically writes itself<\/a>'. Thus similarities between \u2018Frances Limon\u2019, \u2018The Songs I didn\u2019t write\u2019, \u2018If I could fly\u2019, and \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019 might be a mere coincidence that could be explained by the use of commonly used composition techniques.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On December 4, the renowned guitarist Joe Satriani filed a copyright lawsuit against the British rock group Coldplay. Satriani argued that a substantial part of his original instrumental piece, \u2018If I could Fly\u2019, was reproduced in the band\u2019s hit, \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019. Coldplay faced a similar allegation earlier this year. The young Brooklyn band, Creaky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65,69,291],"tags":[297],"class_list":["post-3534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copyright","category-infringement-copyright-ip","category-music","tag-anna-shahid-ipilogue-editor"],"yoast_head":"\nWho copied who? Or is a Crowd of Four a mere coincidence? - IPOsgoode<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/osgoode\/iposgoode\/2008\/12\/19\/who-copied-who\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who copied who? Or is a Crowd of Four a mere coincidence? - IPOsgoode\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On December 4, the renowned guitarist Joe Satriani filed a copyright lawsuit against the British rock group Coldplay. Satriani argued that a substantial part of his original instrumental piece, \u2018If I could Fly\u2019, was reproduced in the band\u2019s hit, \u2018Viva La Vida\u2019. Coldplay faced a similar allegation earlier this year. 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