Men at Work have lost a federal plagiarism court case

[moxham123]

Australian band Men at Work have lost a federal court case in Sydney, Australia, after being sued for plagiarism over their 1981 number one US and UK hit single 'Down Under.'

The band now face paying up to 60% of the song's income, after the court ruled the song copied its flute riff from a Girl Guides song called 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.' The campfire song was originally written for the 1935 Girl Guides Jamboree, by the now-deceased Marion Sinclair who died in 1988.

Another court hearing is set to take place later this month to determine the compensation due from Men at Work's credited songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert as well as Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia.

Larrikin Music, who own the song, started court proceedings last summer, after a TV music quiz show in Australia pointed out the similarities of both in 2007.

Larrikin Music's lawyer Adam Simpson told Associated Press Sydney, "It's a big win for the underdog."

While the song is still under copyright according to Australian copyright law, Marion Sinclair died in 1988, and so the publishing rights are held by Larrikin Music. In the United States, the rights are administered by Music Sales Corporation in New York City.

In June 2009, Larrikin Music sued the band Men At Work for copyright infringement, alleging that part of the flute riff of the band's 1981 single "Down Under" was copied from "Kookaburra". The counsel for the band's record label and publishing company (Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia) claimed that, based on the agreement under which the song was written, the copyright was actually held by the Girl Guides Association. On 30 July, Justice Peter Jacobson of the Federal Court of Australia made a preliminary ruling that Larrikin did own copyright on the song, but the issue of whether or not songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert had plagiarised the riff would be determined at a later date. On 4 February 2010, Justice Jacobson delivered his judgement that Men At Work had infringed Larrikin's copyright, and that both recordings submitted to the court "...reproduce a substantial part of Kookaburra"

Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree Melody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1fO1je3 ... re=related

Men At Work - Down Under

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew&feature=fvw

Do you think they are the same?

[MeYatch]

This is why we should send political threads to the law section, because then people might have some idea it exists....

http://rockpage.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=25875

[RobTheDrummer]

Check this version out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQU7_uT4 ... re=related

Looks like BadDazeRob with long hair and glasses....hehe