COLDPLAY Responds To JOE SATRIANI Lawsuit

COLDPLAY has issued a statement in response to the lawsuit filed against the band by guitarist Joe Satriani in which he claims that COLDPLAY ripped off portions of his song "If I Could Fly" for the group's Grammy-nominated track "Viva La Vida".

"With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations," read the statement. "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 endeavours."

In response to COLDPLAY's statement, Satriani's lawyer, Howard E. King, told the Associated Press that COLDPLAY's public reaction was dramatically different from how the guitarist's claims were treated before the lawsuit was filed.

"We attempted to have a dialogue on this before we went public," King said. "We felt almost forced to file suit."

"As far as the 'coincidence,' ultimately that's for a jury to decide," he added.

In an interview with Music Radar conducted this past weekend, Satriani stated about the lawsuit he filed against COLDPLAY, "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much. The second I heard it, I knew it was 'If I Could Fly'." Satriani added that he has been flooded with emails about the alleged similarity, saying, "Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious. It's as simple as that — when you listen to a song and you say, 'Wow, that's a real rip-off.'"

Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit in Los Angeles last Thursday (December 4). He is seeking a jury trial, damages and "any and all profits" attributable to the alleged copyright infringement.

The guitarist said he "did everything I could to avoid a court case," but claims that "COLDPLAY didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. ... But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way."

According to MTV.com, COLDPLAY made mention of Satriani's case against them before the suit was actually filed. During a recent live taping for Yahoo.com, COLDPLAY singer Chris Martin said about the song, "We are being sued by about 12 people who say that we stole it, though I promise we didn't. Including ... I probably shouldn't say (laughs). I can't tell you, I can't tell you, but it rhymes with Moe Batriani."

Industry blogger Bob Lefsetz wrote on Monday (December 8) that all Satriani has to prove in court is that COLDPLAY could have had access to his song, adding, "COLDPLAY absolutely can't win this case. Or even if they possibly could, their image has already been shredded."

COLDPLAY's "Viva La Vida" vs. JOE SATRIANI's "If I Could Fly":