Coldplay settle out of court

Thursday, 17 September 2009

Coldplay are "relieved" to have settled their long-running plagiarism row.

The British band have agreed an out-of-court settlement with Joe Satriani following allegations the group - comprising of Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion - had copied parts of 'If I Could Fly' in their hit single 'Viva La Vida'.

A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Chris and the lads are relieved to get the whole situation out of the way.

"Terms of the deal mean they are forbidden to discuss the agreement they reached with Joe. It's been a long and drawn-out process involving lots of negotiations between legal teams. The band is happy that it's finally been resolved."

Online legal website News.justia.com says the case was dismissed in California Central District Court on Monday (14.09.09) "upon stipulation", thus suggesting the two parties reached a financial agreement out of court.

Satriani sued Coldplay in December claiming they had plagiarised his song by using "substantial, original portions" of his 2004 track.

He was demanding "all and any profits" from record sales.

The rockers' lawyers appeared in a Los Angeles court in April where they denied the allegations on behalf of the band and stated Satriani's song "lacked originality" and should not receive copyright protection.

A statement from the 'Fix You' hitmakers added: "If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental and just as surprising to us as to him."