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Coldplay deny nicking Satriani riffs
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 10 December 2008
Coldplay have responded to the previously reported Joe Satriani copyright infringement lawsuit, claiming any similarity between their song ‘Viva La Vida’ and his song ‘If I Could Fly’ is the result of good old fashioned coincidence.
As previously reported, Satriani began legal proceedings last week claiming the title track from Coldplay’s recent album contains “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 instrumental track. He subsequently told reporters he only took legal action because Chris Martin et al refused to discuss the similarities between the two tracks when he approached them about it.
In a statement issued yesterday, Coldplay told reporters: “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 the song ‘Viva La Vida’. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours”.
I’m guessing that won’t satisfy Satriani, meaning this whole matter will presumably proceed to court.
