Joe Satriani

December 9, 2008 7:01 pm

A statement from the band

 

 

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 upon the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours. Coldplay.

 

http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=242

As much as I LOVE the statement, it also tells me that there is no middle ground to work toward. Clearly, Satriani is confident that Coldplay stole his music. Clearly, Coldplay is confident that they were in no way influenced by his song. This is now a zero-sum game. I do not see how you can avoid a court case on this one unless Satriani backs down.

I agree.

 

It's also going to be a hell of a case to decide. Firstly it will be hard to find a jury who hasn't heard about the case beforehand. Secondly with both sides so resolute it's one word against the other. They can analyse the two songs until the cows come home, but it's the intent that is the issue here.

Yes there are some similarities, and there's a youtube somewhere of the 2 songs merged which sounds good.

 

BUT, I would have more respect for Joe thingy if this had appeared

 

a) when the song was first released and it was all over the place

 

b) before the Grammys were announced.

 

The timing portrays his court action in a particularly bad light.

Yes there are some similarities, and there's a youtube somewhere of the 2 songs merged which sounds good.

 

BUT, I would have more respect for Joe thingy if this had appeared

 

a) when the song was first released and it was all over the place

 

b) before the Grammys were announced.

 

The timing portrays his court action in a particularly bad light.

 

Agreed.

Glad i'm not the only one who though Satriani kinda sounded like a sad 16 year old boy on his statement :P

 

Therefore he should henceforth be referred to at all times as Joe SADriani!!:rolleyes:

 

Someone should change it in the thread title too!:P

 

The timing portrays his court action in a particularly bad light.

 

And that goes for "sad Joe" himself!!;)

Even though I didn't want them to publicly say anything about this case they had no choice but respond when Joe talked to the press about it and played the victim part. I totally agree that their statement is very professional and respectful and that is how it should've been done. Coldplay's statement shows a neutral and respectful side and no victim or arrogance side.

Why would kiss their Grammys goodbye? Why wouldn't they they get record or song of the year?

 

 

Grammy hates controversy. If this all blows over by February, if the lawsuit is dropped, then maybe.

Grammy hates controversy. If this all blows over by February, if the lawsuit is dropped, then maybe.

 

Yep, they hate most controversies. Depending on the type of controversy, the Grammys may overlooked an artist and thier work. Since this controversy actually deals with music many voters may consider it when voting.

Coldplay Hits Back -- We Stole Nothing

 

 

Coldplay is finally striking back at the guitarist who claims the band's song "Viva La Vida" is a rip-off with this simple message -- tough luck.

 

In a statement to TMZ, the band says:

 

"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 the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this, and wish him well with all future endeavors. Coldplay."

 

http://www.tmz.com/2008/12/09/coldplay-hits-back-we-stole-nothing/

Yes, Coldplay's lawyers did a good job on the statement. Anyone who believes the band had anything to do with the writing of that statement is ignorant haha.

lmao at tmz trying to make it seem like that was an exclusive :laugh3:

 

In a statement to TMZ, the band says:

 

it was posted on their site for everyone to see, not just written out specifically for tmz.

Yes, Coldplay's lawyers did a good job on the statement. Anyone who believes the band had anything to do with the writing of that statement is ignorant haha.

 

hehe, i think their statement might have more expletives.

I agree with Jenjie.

It is clear and abiding by them ! ;)

I just cant stand when radio stations talk about the case and play that youtube audio where they do sound alike.Then the dj says you be the judge. I heard that on 2 different stations here in NY

Yes there are some similarities, and there's a youtube somewhere of the 2 songs merged which sounds good.

 

BUT, I would have more respect for Joe thingy if this had appeared

 

a) when the song was first released and it was all over the place

 

b) before the Grammys were announced.

 

The timing portrays his court action in a particularly bad light.

 

I agree too. It's his right to make a legal claim if he feels he has a case (I don't agree with him, but that is irrelevant) , but yes, his publicity-maximizing timing makes me skeptical of his motive and sours the whole thing even more.

 

I think the boys responded well. Professional yet firm about their view of it :)

I have refrained from commenting on this until now, but I must say that it is about fucking time we had word from the band over this.

 

Satriani has no case.

 

I rest mine.

Yes, Coldplay's lawyers did a good job on the statement. Anyone who believes the band had anything to do with the writing of that statement is ignorant haha.

 

Actually I think that you are probably wrong. The lawyers would no doubt have had a lot to do with it and nothing would be published without their go-ahead, but this is a very personal thing against the band and something they have spent a lot of time creating. It is their work that is being defended, so I imagine they do actually want to be involved in what gets said.

 

I think it's just as ignorant to assume that just because it sounds professional means they had nothing to do with it.

^^ i agree. they probably had much to do with it.

Actually I think that you are probably wrong. The lawyers would no doubt have had a lot to do with it and nothing would be published without their go-ahead, but this is a very personal thing against the band and something they have spent a lot of time creating. It is their work that is being defended, so I imagine they do actually want to be involved in what gets said.

 

I think it's just as ignorant to assume that just because it sounds professional means they had nothing to do with it.

 

They were probably made aware of the statement being published on their website, but they probably weren't involved with coming up with that statement, is probably what the other poster was getting at. Which is probably true.

Here is a link to a funny article in the Telegraph (UK) about how stupid the whole plagiarism thing really is. In the article they have a video of this singer Alizee, which I couldn't include.

 

"The great Coldplay conspiracy - the plot thickens"

Posted By: Neil McCormick at Dec 9, 2008 at 13:55:12 [General]

Posted in: Arts , Audio File

 

I am indebted to Telegraph reader Bob for pointing this out. It's another song that sounds pretty much exactly like Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida', this time by French pop singer Alizée, which came out in 2003, a year before Satriani's 'Learning To Fly', which appeared three years before Creaky Boards debuted their presciently titled 'Songs I Didn't Write', which they played at the CMJ music festival before an audience they claim included someone who looked very like Chris Martin, whose own variation on the increasingly familiar chord sequence and melody appeared this year.

 

So if Satriani is suing Coldplay, should Alizee sue Satriani? We'll leave Creaky Boards out of it cause they've obviously got no money.

 

Songwriters are always talking romantically about plucking songs out of the ether. Chris Martin would probably be well advised to have a lawyer present the next time he tries that.

just saw it posted somewhere else

 

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/30470502.html

See, that's how you do it Joe.

 

Short and to the point. No over dramatic statements, no talk of broken hearts and songs written for great loves. Respectful, the way it should it be.

 

Definitely. Good to see that they responded.

 

just saw it posted somewhere else

 

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/30470502.html

 

There are some pretty idiotic comments over there...