Joe Satiriani sues Cold Play for copyright infringement

British rockband, Coldplay, has been sued by famous guitarist, Joe Satiriani, for copying his music. Mr. Satiriani said that the track, “Viva la Vida” of the band uses “substantial original portions” of his instrumental track titled, “If I could fly,” from the album “Is there Love in Space?” which was released in April 2004. On December 4, 2008, Reuters reported the Satiriani filed the copyright infringement lawsuit at a federal court in Los Angeles. MTV reports:

Satriani, 52, is seeking a jury trial in the dispute, as well as damages and "any and all profits" attributable to the alleged copyright infringement. The songwriting credit on the Coldplay song is attributed to the band's four members: singer Chris Martin, bass player Guy Berryman, guitarist Jonny Buckland and drummer Will Champion. A spokesperson for Coldplay could not be reached for comment at press time.

This is like a hit in the gut. The news came out a day after Coldplay was nominated for Grammy Awards. One of the top contenders in the Grammy Award, Coldplay, received seven nominations. Their track “Viva la Vida,” has been nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The song was written by four members of Coldplay- singer Chris Martin; bass player Guy Berryman; guitarist Johnny Buckland; and drummer Will Champion. The title of the song was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. Representative for the band and the recording company, Capitol Records, were not available for comment on the issue.

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