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Coldplay Face Plagiarism Claims Once Again
- Posted on Jan 15th 2010 6:59AM by Julian Marszalek
With a sense of timing they could set their watches by, Coldplay have found themselves to be on the receiving end of a plagiarism claim once again. This time, a "well talented" yet "unknown" songwriter by the name of Sammie Lee Smith filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that he wrote the songs 'Yellow', 'Trouble' and 'Clocks.'According to reports in TMZ.com, Smith claims to have written around 4,000 songs, all contained on approximately 100 tapes with each tape housing about 40 songs. He is insistent that Coldplay cease playing the songs and has demanded an unsubstantiated sum of money by way of compensation.
As previously reported on Spinner, in September 2009 Coldplay reached an out-of-court settlement with hard rock guitarist Joe Satriani. The guitarist had alleged that Coldplay's global hit 'Viva La Vida' bore more than a passing resemblance to his 2004 song, 'If I Could Fly.'
Around the same time, singer-songwriter Andy Gallagher claimed that the video for Coldplay's 'Strawberry Swing' had "striking similarities" to the video of his own 'Something Else' while both indie band Creaky Boards and singer Yusuf Islam (fomerly Cat Stevens) both made plagiarism allegations of their own.
Coldplay have yet to respond to the new lawsuit.
- Filed under: News
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I may be late in replying but i just have to.
The so called "American talent" you guys talk about isn't real. Most artist in America dont even write their own songs now a days
And most great music legends aren't even from here! Every band goes into the same situation as coldplay has. and if you dont like them then leave them alone. America isn't the right now and it hasnt been for a while now. Oh, and yes iam Amerian.
Joe Satriani should listen to Marty Balin's song, Hearts before he accuses Coldplay of plagiarism. Talk about a ripoff of the melody!!!!
February 04 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThey had access to this to this 'well talented and unknown' songwriters tapes??
Please explain why he waits 10 years to say anything.It's a load of nonsense. The people that don't like Coldplay will use any excuse to put the knife in, even in pathetic cases like like this.
As for the Satriani case, they were being accused by 3 different people, one of whom recorded theirs before Satriani, so how does that work out?
Some people will do or say anything to diss them. Coldplay are innocent and no matter what replies i get or whatever is said i will always believe that.
Coldplay is so overrated. A band called Blue Merle is soooo much better, too bad they only had one album. Blue merle is like Coldplay on speed with original songs. Coldplay is so boring compared to these guys.
January 18 2010 at 5:43 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCOLDPLAY sucks simple as that.
January 18 2010 at 4:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI think the funny and most important thing most forget is that you can't "copyright" any songs. Sure if you are famous, you can sue somebody and hope it sticks, but the thing with music (if anybody cares to notice) is that every single artist is guilty of stealing and rerecording it and passing it as their own stuff. Jimmy Buffett's song Uncle Jon's Band off his Fruitcakes album was first debuted on a Greatful Dead album. Listen to the music...the beats may sound the same and the lyrics may be identical, but you can use the beat and rhythm as long as you have changed at least one word in the song so its different from the other person's. If every artist started copyrighting their songs, music would stop growing and eventually cease to exist because nobody could rerecord it and make it their own version. So before people get sue-happy, just remember that if you kill off the music, the world would probably come kick the stuffing out of you.
January 18 2010 at 3:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replymost of this entire blog is a perfect example of the bs "priveleged" disconnected crapped-out way of life of americanism and how jaded and dissatisfied and ridiculously destructive and dissociated that Life in These United States are... and to name it will, I am sure (will i am...) only cause the exact ones who are so d*** lost to be hostile and negatively recciprocal.
there is nothing wrong with Coldplay. there are just a bunch of people who have nothing better to do and have no particularly exciting nor inspiring lives that they are actually living in a 3-D day-to-day fashion who spend their time "blogging" and verbally destructing those whom they don't know personally and whose blogs (really) actually mean NOTHING in the actual scope of what really matters to waste their time so they don't face their own lives and the personal problems that they may feel pain from and need to resolve.
How about going out and giving to a charity or earn some money and, again, give to someone who can't physically take care of themselves because they are elderly or disabled or home-ridden or hungry instead of being self-absorbed and wasting time wondering about whether or not Coldplay did or did not plagiarize some asshole who most likely (in the scheme of things) plagiarized at some time or another, someone else? (There are, after all, only so many notes in the universe...)
kari, sounds like you just described yourself.if you think america is so bad stay away from here. if your an american leave. if not for americans coldplay wouldn't sell enough records to buy themselves dinner. so keep your stupid un-american thoughts to yourself.
January 18 2010 at 4:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe only thing that Coldplay has going for them is that their front man is married to Gweneth Paltrow. That is the only reason they ever get any air time. Let's not buy any of their CDs or go to their shows. Maybe then, they will learn to be honest, and that America will not tolerate their rippping-off material from true American talent.
January 18 2010 at 12:31 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... it is a duck!
Come on COLDPLAY, if you guys don't have it, maybe try another career, but stop the dishonesty. You wouldn't want that done to you.
I do believe that Colplay rips off music because of one single reason: They settled out of court! If you have nothing to hide, and believe in what's right, you fight for it instead of paying up to shut them up. Besides, when so many artists come forward with similar complaints and accusations, there is a pattern there and Coldplay has to stop stealing material and either get some material of their own, or give up music.
January 18 2010 at 12:21 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply











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