'Men at Work will have to pay an Australian music publishing company 40 to 60 percent of their earnings from their 1983 song "Down Under." A judge in Sydney's Federal Court found the band guilty of illegally sampling the flute solo from the children's song "The Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" on their hit. Just how much Men at Work will need to pay Larrkin Music Publishers will be determined at a hearing next week.' - ContactMusic.com
That's awesome. I love how it took someone 27 years to notice the similarity between two of the most recognizable songs ever.
It sets a great legal precedent, though: I think every musician ever should have to pay half their earnings to the estates of all the millions of dead musicians who came before them.
Also, isn't this a folk song? couldn't they have hired someone to play the flute? I hope the writers of OH SUSANNAH don't come to avenge me.
I think this is a little crazy, somebody trying to make a profit unless they indeed did sample from the other artist. Why did it take thirty years?
Ridiculous...there's is no way near enough for that to be plagiarism. I think it comes down to the idea of "former art," in that melodies like that are so common that you can't claim copyright on any of them. Apart from that, the melody, and rhythm don't follow the same arc.
Well, it's pretty clear that the second and fourth bars of the flute solo are lifted directly from that song (it's less evident in the crappy choral versions in that Aussie news report, but I had a music teacher as a child who loved this damn song, so I know all about the ol' gum tree), but I feel it's quite incidental and in no way justifies the payment of royalties of any kind, let alone 60%?!
