New York partner Oren Warshavsky was quoted in a December 10 Reuters article, "Coldplay Denies Plagiarism Accusation."
According to the article, British rock band Coldplay denied guitarist Joe Satriani's accusation that it ripped off one of his instrumentals, saying any similarities were entirely coincidental. Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit in Los Angeles recently, claiming Coldplay's hit single "Viva La Vida" incorporates substantial original portions of his 2004 song "If I Could Fly."
Warshavsky said Satriani could prevail by proving "striking similarity" between the two compositions. The law would then assume the only explanation for the similarities must be copying rather than coincidence, he said. Additionally, Satriani could point out that his song is already published and widely disseminated, which "may be a more logical and compelling argument" than Coldplay's allegation that this is merely the result of coincidence, Warshavsky said.
A court also could find that Coldplay copied the song unconsciously, Warshavsky said. This issue tripped up balladeer Michael Bolton, who lost a case against the Isley Brothers over their similarly named tunes "Love Is a Wonderful Thing," according to Warshavsky. George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" also was deemed to be an unconscious copy of the Chiffons' "He's So Fine."