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Men at work lawsuit

Eric Jx

By Eric Jx
in The Keyboard Corner

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ITGITC

ITGITC

Posted
Posted
And I liked Men at Work a lot back then, by the way, though "Who Could It be Now" was my preferred tune of theirs. :)

http://www.musikalske.net/men_at_work/who_can_it_be_now_3.jpg

 

Yeah.

 

But Colin Hay's eyeball-thing was a little...

 

creepy. :eek:

 

 

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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Cygnus64

Cygnus64

Posted
Posted
Does anyone here remember George Harrison being sued for "My Sweet Lord"? How did it turn out, anyway?

 

 

He lost.

 

Seems like it would hard to PROVE whether a partial musical similarity was by chance or deliberate plagiarism.

 

It doesn't matter. The court said he "unintentionally" did it. It didnt matter if it was intentional or not, he still had to pay.

 

Two hilarious things happened as a result of it all:

 

1. The Chiffons (who sang "He's so Fine) recorded "My Sweet Lord" to cash in. :laugh:

 

2. Years later, Harrison bought the rights to "He's so Fine". :thu:

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Byrdman

Byrdman

Posted
Posted

If that is copying, we all owe vast fortunes to some incredibily dead guys - they are not the least bit alike. I hope and expect they will lose and costs will be awarded to the Men at Work writers. (Unlike in the US, the losers generally have to pay both side's costs in Australia, so you cannot just go a sue with a contingent lawyer on the off-chance)

 

As for vegemite, its an Australian version of similar products that originated in England. Never could stand the stuff myself, but then I'm a "winging pom".

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JeffLearman

JeffLearman

Posted
Posted

When I was in Aus back in the 80's, lots of people complained that the world thought MAW represented Aussie music. Well, what they pointed to as representative was IMHO nothing more than heavy metal retread. (zzzz)

 

Too bad they didn't point to the Midnight Oils, who I happened to see in a venue so crowded that everyone had to jump in synchrony or risk sever abrasions. A great show, but again, I was out of step with the masses, who moshed wild during the frantic parts (90% of it) but practically nodded off when these very talented musicians backed it off and showed what they could really do in terms of building intensity with finely crafted and perfectly executed segments, which hit me right where it counts.

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JeffLearman

JeffLearman

Posted
Posted
Seems like it would hard to PROVE whether a partial musical similarity was by chance or deliberate plagiarism.

 

It doesn't matter. The court said he "unintentionally" did it. It didnt matter if it was intentional or not, he still had to pay.

Actually, it *does* matter, but not enough to toss it out. If it had been intentional, damages could have been significantly higher.

 

In this case, Harrison admitted that he had heard the song and was probably inluenced by it.

 

When Harrison originally learned about HSF and it's similarity to MSL, he sent his agent to settle with the Chiffons. His agent told them NOT to settle with Harrison but to sell the rights to himself instead, proving that he was a scumbag.

 

For that reason the judge's settlement in the case was only enough for that agent to recoup his investment but not profit. I think that th agent should have been left holding the stick, and that Harrison's attorneys did a horrible job of defending him (not pointing out that Billy Preston had recorded MSL with virtually no sales, so there was more to it than the composition at play.)

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AUSSIEKEYS

AUSSIEKEYS

Posted
Posted
When I was in Aus back in the 80's, lots of people complained that the world thought MAW represented Aussie music. Well, what they pointed to as representative was IMHO nothing more than heavy metal retread. (zzzz)

 

Too bad they didn't point to the Midnight Oils, who I happened to see in a venue so crowded that everyone had to jump in synchrony or risk sever abrasions. A great show, but again, I was out of step with the masses, who moshed wild during the frantic parts (90% of it) but practically nodded off when these very talented musicians backed it off and showed what they could really do in terms of building intensity with finely crafted and perfectly executed segments, which hit me right where it counts.

 

hi learjeff...if you are referring to is who I am thinking then I agree..I actually dislike that band with intensity and at the time preferred a great Aussie band called The Angels who were a far more interesting "rock" band than the SOON TO BE mega rich "heavy metal retreads" [as you humourously called them] who today have seemed to have proved to me that no one in this WORLD has taste and they are all going to a "highway to hell"...heck that band started playing for school functions when I was just a youth,.and the songs were typical garage band stuff...but ironically even they went commercial and it disolved further to even less interesting music....at least the early stuff I could roller skate to at the roller drome.

 

please believe there are Aussies who do not think that these guys are reps for Aussie music.

But who am i to say that..they are rich and I am poor.

 

Regards the Oils, yes very talented and as deserving of great Aussie band as any,plus with enough overseas cred to pursue it, and believe it or not their original Bass player [very talented] who I believe wrote [or co wrote?] many of the early songs actually married my ex girlfriend and I played a Christian Coffe shop with them [as she had been having singing lessons from my dad]...he had to quit when they toured england due to his health...

 

but it was apparent to me from the start that the lead singer was really only bideing his time awaiting for the chance to be Australia's Prime Minister [for those who dont know he is a minister in our cabinet]...many now say he has sold out to politics...I say you are very blind could you not see that this guy had planned from the start that he would be there...most dont know that he was studying poilitics at Uni at the time...I believe the band was a platform waiting to happen for him..if I remember rightly this band formed with a bunch of like minded christian boys based around Turramurra MUSIC. ,..i THINK. Yes Aussie music that is not a mosh pit type but very finely crafted..the mosh pit was just a thing of those times.

 

great band and a charasmatic frontman with his own singing style [like it or not individually]it works great in context.. .

 

I cant say who I think are emisaries for Aussie music but one that really does it for me is Australian Crawl, a band I admire and love , sure the singer gets knocked for being hard to understand but I think this band illustrates Aussie pub music of the 80's as much as any other, great writing skills ,brilliant musos and a great frontman, perhaps my idea of Aussie rock.

 

another in a different party band mode is Mental as Anything, love their fun attitude,

 

and finally the ultimate off the wall band although from New Zealand are usually sprouted as Aussie because their biggest breaks were here are Split enz

 

these were all contempories of Men at Work although Men at Work came much later

 

and I cant forget Mysex an often underated band now, but huge back then, this again is Aussiemusic, why he had to die prematurely is a shame.And what about Dragon another biggy, all Aussie all typical of a time...Andnot forgetting Cold chisel, great songs, energetic frontman with again his opwn vocal style, like it or not.but it works for the band.

 

 

the 80's all when Aussie music was growing up, establishing it's own identity.The 80's was Aussie indentity forming period, this to me is the point in history when Aussie music should be judged.

 

these are the bands that moulded Aussie pub rock and are all related in their ancestory...but I could not say that one band represented Aussie music..I would happily put Men at Work over that garage band...but even Men at Work represent only one style of Aussie music at that time, reggea influenced i guess, only a minor part of the times, even my own band as contemporee to these above mentioned bands was already playing reggea and ska based originals years before Men at Work demonstrated that style,we were a band that in many ways were influenced by Mental as Anything and Australia Crawl but took our other influences from Ska and reggea, we never made it out of the pubs and clubs of Sydney but can say these above bands were not only our contempories but also our mentors and always just that step too far above us, often playing some of our venues but where we aspired to be in the future...still we were part of the 80's Sydney scene and that I am ever thankful for...

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AUSSIEKEYS

AUSSIEKEYS

Posted
Posted

sad indeed, to be honest never ever associated the two...even saw the trivia show that bought it forth and still didnt see the connection.

 

anyway if anyone should benefit it should be Marion Sinclair 's family...she owned the copywrite at time of the songs popularity , did she not...I believe by the media that this present company bought it long after it was a hit...will they backdate royalty wins and give it to Marion Sinclair's estate.

 

this is a rediculous result., it also further heightens my dislike for Music Trivia shows...so trendy yet now they have created a nightmare by asking one little question...this may have been the catalyst but it sure should not have gone where it did.

 

regarding the music publisher who surprisingly has a very Australian name, I believe they have now lost much respect from Aussie muso's and the public alike. {and it seems even a worldwide public}, will that matter to them..probably not.

 

this is just so Un Aussie...this is not how we grew up , we grew up with the idiom...give everyone a fair go...

 

We are not in Australia anymore Toto.... errrr I mean Skippy.

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JpScoey

JpScoey

Posted
Posted
If the publisher wins this case, then every solo I've ever played is a felony.

 

Too late, my friend - the publisher has won the case... a travesty in my opinion.

 

What interests me is if this precedent has now opened the floodgates?

 

I mean, c'mon, the melody in question lasts about 3 seconds and, at most, is an interpretation

 

of what Aussies regard as a traditional nursery rhyme/playground-type tune.

 

(Look up Kookaburra Song on YouTube & all the vids are of very young kids singing it)

 

 

How many thousands (millions?) of songs could have a 3 or 4 second segment analysed & be accused of

 

copyright infringement of something else?

 

 

It's ridiculous in the extreme.

 

 

Here is the tune it was allegedly lifted from -

 

 

 

Update: quote from The Guardian(UK) newspaper -

 

"Outside the court, Adam Simpson, Larrikin Music's lawyer said the company might seek up to 60% of the royalties

that Down Under earned since its release, an amount that could total millions".

 

:facepalm:

 

John.

 

some stuff on myspace

 

Nord: StageEX-88, Electro2-73, Hammond: XK-1, Yamaha: XS7

Korg: M3-73 EXpanded, M50-88, X50, Roland: Juno D, Kurzweil: K2000vp.

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richwhite9

richwhite9

Posted
Posted

 

Regards the Oils, yes very talented and as deserving of great Aussie band as any,plus with enough overseas cred to pursue it, .....

 

but it was apparent to me from the start that the lead singer was really only bideing his time awaiting for the chance to be Australia's Prime Minister [for those who dont know he is a minister in our cabinet]...many now say he has sold out to politics...I say you are very blind could you not see that this guy had planned from the start that he would be there...most dont know that he was studying poilitics at Uni at the time...I believe the band was a platform waiting to happen for him..if

 

After 'Beds are Burning' hit here the interviews with Garrett usually included a reference that he was a barrister and activist. I was struck by his focus.

 

'Blue Sky Mine' was one of the most perfect singles. Based on historical events with a fine sense of social conscience and works just as well at another level entirely with the earth as heaven's (Blue Sky's) soul refinery complete with a salvic entreaty and the healing rains of a flood at the end. Great stuff. As good as it gets IMHO.

 

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JeffLearman

JeffLearman

Posted
Posted

Yeah, John, I agree; it's a travesty. However, there's still hope. If the award is less than court costs, it's all good.

 

In blogs I see people blaming lawyers, but really it's their clients who are the cause of excess litigation. I also see people claim that any such small sequence of notes is going to appear *somewhere* in the history of music, but that's beside the point, because this was obviously an intentional musical quote, as the term is used in jazz. I mean, the guy's sitting in a gum tree!

 

The shame here would be if in Australia, quotes are now condidered infringment and subject to statutory damages. Imagine jazz wholly without quotes! What a shame.

 

I'm hoping for a nominal settlement. I hope the 60% figure turns out to be nothing but a pipe dream for the plaintiffs and their lawyers. The quote certainly isn't the basis for the song's popularity or commercial success.

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