corporate greed down under

[philw]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/06/2945781.htm

Men At Work have been ordered to pay 5 per cent of royalties for plagiarising part of their 1980s hit Down Under.

In February the Federal Court ruled the iconic Aussie band plagiarised part of the song, which was penned in 1979 but only achieved worldwide success after a flute riff was introduced to the track two years later.

Larrikin Music said the band stole the riff from the children's song Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree.

Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree was written by Melbourne teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides jamboree in 1934 and has been sung by generations of Australian children ever since.

Larrikin owns the rights to the song and had been seeking up to 60 per cent of Down Under's profits as compensation.

The Federal Court was told that Men At Work's Business As Usual album, on which the song appears, had achieved huge commercial success both in Australia and overseas.

Today Justice Peter Jacobsen described Larrikin's compensation request as "excessive, over-reaching and unrealistic".

"Although the quotation from Kookaburra in the 1981 recording is - in my view - sufficient to constitute an infringement of copyright, other factors are to be taken into account in assessing the percentage interest payable in a hypothetical licensing bargain," he said.

Justice Jacobsen ordered Men At Work frontman Colin Hay, fellow songwriter Ron Strykert and EMI to pay Larrikin 5 per cent of future profits, as well as royalties dating back to 2002.

The songwriters were not in court for the judgement.

a win for corporate greed. A sad day for Australian music

The Kookaburra song was written over 50 years ago, normally not subjected to copyright. Due to circumstances where Larrikin music obtained the rights to the music they claimed "plagiarism" when Men at work used what the judge deemed to be a few notes of the Kookaburra song played on a flute in Down under. Did Colin Hay from Men at work deliberatley steal someone elses work and claim it as his own? I doubt it. Is it possible to compose a work today that doesn't use at least a few notes of a previous work? This deplorable litigation is nothing more than corporate greed.

this is one of my Favourite songs  and this is a big shame

[fightingquaker13]

Love the tune. Music of my youth. However, I doubt Ned Kelley, Mel, or even Paul Hogan would like the video.
As far as the flute? 5% seems sane, though a bit high (I'd have gone 2-3 tops). I mean honestly, if we don't protect intellectual property, who will write, compose, or make movies? Use it, pay for it.The question is how long CR lasts in OZ. Here in the states its 25 years. After that, its public domain (with a few exceptions). If its within that you pay. If not, its yours free.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

FQ is actually talking sense here ?   

[tt11758]

FQ is actually talking sense here ?   

Stopped Clock Syndrome.

[Solus]

Stopped Clock Syndrome.

But a clock that loses just a second a day is only right every 118 years....    If my calculations are correct.

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

It took this long for the weasel lawyers to get their grubby hands on a tune (good one, loved it) that came out when I was in Middle School?

Someone would have had a "Snapped Jaw, With Not Much To Say"

Do you Speaka my language?

[philw]

it is just crap


Larrikin took over the copy write back in 1990 

how many other songs use other songs as influence 

here is the Kookaburra song

here is a bit more to the case
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wacky/men-at-works-down-under-in-kookaburra-copyright-fight/story-e6frev20-1111117727211

TWO of Australia's most loved anthems are locked in a courtroom copyright battle sparked by a question on the ABC's music quiz show Spicks And Specks.

Publishing company Larrikin Music claims Men At Work's Down Under rips off the popular children's song, Kookaburra.

The claim centres on the melody that accompanies the line: "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree'', which Larrikin Music alleges is reproduced in Down Under.
This is a battle between two icons,'' Larrikin Music Publishing managing director Norm Lurie said.

"We claim the song Down Under contains the `kookaburra sits in the old gum tree' refrain.

"That refrain is an integral part of Down Under and we are not being recompensed for that song.

"The Kookaburra aspect of that song has never been acknowledged,'' Mr Lurie said.

The matter is set to be heard in the Federal Court in November.

Larrikin is seeking compensation from the Down Under songwriters, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, along with record and entertainment giants Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sony DADC Australia, EMI Songs Australia and EMI Music Publishing.

Mr Lurie said the alleged Kookaburra connection was raised on the ABC TV show.

"This question was posed on Spicks And Specks: `What children's song is contained in the song Down Under?' The answer was: `Kookaburra','' Mr Lurie said.

"The next day, my email and phone lit up with people asking: `Do you know about this?'

"It's not like we've been sitting on our hands waiting.

"But there was no other course for us to take.''

Larrikin, in court documents, claimed that in 1981 Hay and Strykert wrote Down Under using a "substantial part of Kookaburra''.

It said the composers of Down Under had "misled'' the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) over their rights to the song.

Larrikin said Kookaburra was written by Toorak college teacher Marion Sinclair in 1934 for a Girl Guide jamboree in Melbourne.

She signed over her copyright to the Libraries Board of South Australia in 1987, a year before her death. In 2000, Larrikin took over the copyright in an agreement backdated to 1990, it said.

"I am a big fan of Down Under, I love it,'' Mr Lurie said.

"The message is a bit dark and droll, but I don't have any problem with that.

"But, in terms of doing the right thing - no, it saddens me, because Marion Sinclair was very gracious in allowing people to use the song.

"It really saddens me to think that, in the last years of her life, while Down Under was having huge commercial success, she was in a nursing home, not earning any money from it, and was probably entitled to.''

EMI Music and EMI Songs allowed Down Under to be used in such films as Finding Nemo, Kangaroo Jack and Dr Who.

Hay and Strykert had received 100 per cent of royalties for Down Under over many years