Posted on 02/04/2010 2:30:15 PM PST by LdSentinal
A judge in Sydney, Australia ruled today that Men at Work’s ’80s megahit “Down Under” infringes on the copyright of an old children’s song called “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,” according to the AP. “Kookaburra…” was originally written by an Australian teacher named Marion Sinclair, who died in 1988. The song’s copyright is now owned by the publishing company Larrikin Music, which sued for unpaid royalties. “I have come to the view that the flute riff in ‘Down Under’ … infringes on the copyright of ‘Kookaburra’ because it replicates in material form a substantial part of Ms. Sinclair’s 1935 work,” said Federal Court Justice Peter Jacobson. The judge ordered the litigants to return to court on February 25 to discuss compensation.
Men At Work singer Colin Hay has responded to the judge’s decision with a lengthy statement, in which he admits that bandmate Greg Ham “unconsciously referenced two bars of Kookaburra on the flute… and it did end up in the Men At Work recording.” But Hay argues that it was part of the song’s arrangement, not its composition. Hay concludes by writing that the song, “lives in my heart, and may perhaps live in yours. I claim it, and will continue to play it, for as long as you want to hear it.”
I learned to sing that song in elementary school and probably sang it hundreds of times at school and at camp. I love the Men at Work song and never, ever, heard a likeness, although the Kookaburra song is engraved on my brain cells. I think the court is tone-deaf.
Bad ruling. That song is not similar. Whoever thinks it does is not thinking about music but only about money.
I see a court case. Years of legal turmoil. All because you chose to play copyrighted music.
/sarc
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,
“Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said,
“I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?”
And he said,
“Oh! Do you come from a land down under? (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
“I have come to the view that the flute riff in ‘Down Under’ … infringes on the copyright of ‘Kookaburra’”
A freaking riff!? If that were actionable then a lot of people would owe Chuck Berry big money. For that matter alot of producers of cheesy flicks would ALSO owe this publisher for that crappy flute riff.
ok technical question. are the keys on any of the straight saxes like or close to the clarinet?
Straight and/or curved shape of the instrument only has to do with ergonomics, not how they're fingered.
what is vegemite?
Vegemite Blech it’s looks like a tarry stool and tastes like it too
The Joy of Sax?
It’s a yeast paste, tastes pretty nasty.
An incredibly nasty spread that loony Aussies think is good for you.
that’s what i thought but have heard alot of conflicting info. thanks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.