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Martin talks more about the Satriani lawsuit
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 11 December 2008
Chris Martin has been talking to NME Radio about those previously reported allegations that he nicked a portion of Joe Satriani’s track ‘If I Could Fly’ for his song ‘Viva La Vida’.
As previously reported, Satriani began legal proceedings against the band last week , claiming that the title track from Coldplay’s latest album took “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 instrumental track. Martin et al issued a statement earlier this week saying any similarities between the two songs were a coincidence.
Speaking to NME Radio, Martin says he distinctly remembers writing the song, saying: “Oh, I know exactly where the song came from. It came from the middle of the night, on a piano. I just get embarrassed about having to talk about these things. I do feel a bit upset about it [Satriani’s lawsuit] because I wrote the song. But, you know, these things happen. Whatever will be will be”.
Of course it’s not unprecedented for copyright infringement cases to rely on so called subconscious infringement, whereby the infringer doesn’t deliberately steal someone else’s music, but subconsciously hears the other track one day and then uses it in their own piece another day, assuming it to be original work. Therefore Martin remembering when he wrote the track isn’t necessarily a solid defence against Satriani’s lawsuit.
Martin added that the band hadn’t had “the best of days” since Satriani launched his lawsuit against them, though said he still thought the plaintiff in the case was an “amazing” musician.
