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Men At Work face multi-million dollar bill after judge rules Australian band copied 'Down Under' melody
Men At Work face a multi-million pound bill after a judge ruled that a section of their hit song "Down Under" was copied from the popular 1934 Girl Guides' folk song, "Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree" penned by teacher Marion Sinclair. Men At Work songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, along with EMI music, face a massive bill for unpaid royalties and losses suffered by publishing firm Larrikin Music. Larrikin Music claimed in court that it had won a tender for the copyright for "Kookaburra" from the South Australian Public Trustee in 1990, after Miss Sinclair died.
The judge said it was clear that band member Greg Ham had deliberately plagiarised the tune "for the purpose and with the intention of evoking an Australian flavour in the flute riff". The two sides will meet again on February 25 to discuss the findings and begin talks about costs.
Hear the 'similarities' (rather 'differences' if you ask us...) below.
from: http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=44164_0_2_0_C
Men At Work face a multi-million pound bill after a judge ruled that a section of their hit song "Down Under" was copied from the popular 1934 Girl Guides' folk song, "Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree" penned by teacher Marion Sinclair. Men At Work songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, along with EMI music, face a massive bill for unpaid royalties and losses suffered by publishing firm Larrikin Music. Larrikin Music claimed in court that it had won a tender for the copyright for "Kookaburra" from the South Australian Public Trustee in 1990, after Miss Sinclair died.
The judge said it was clear that band member Greg Ham had deliberately plagiarised the tune "for the purpose and with the intention of evoking an Australian flavour in the flute riff". The two sides will meet again on February 25 to discuss the findings and begin talks about costs.
Hear the 'similarities' (rather 'differences' if you ask us...) below.
from: http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=44164_0_2_0_C
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