Brian Damage
07-30-2009, 10:59 PM
SYDNEY — A music publisher that has accused Australian band Men at Work of stealing the melody to their 1980s smash hit "Down Under" from a campfire song won the first stage of its lawsuit on Thursday seeking royalties from the Aussie anthem.
A federal judge ruled that publisher Larrikin Music owns the copyright to the tune of "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" — a Girl Guide favorite from New Zealand to Canada. The judge's ruling clears the way for a further hearing about whether Men at Work is guilty of copyright infringement.
Larrikin claims the distinctive flute riff in "Down Under" was copied from the refrain of "Kookaburra," a song about the native Australian bird written in 1934 by a teacher named Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition. Sinclair died in 1988.
Lawyers for Men at Work's recording companies — Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia — reject that claim. They had also argued that Larrikin doesn't even own the copyright to the children's tune, telling the judge last month that the Girl Guides — known as Girl Scouts in the U.S. — were more entitled to the rights.
But on Thursday, Federal Court Judge Peter Jacobson ruled that Larrikin did indeed own the copyright to "Kookaburra," accepting the publisher's claim that it bought the rights after Sinclair's death.
Larrikin is suing Sony and EMI for breach of copyright and compensation from royalties earned by Men at Work.
"Down Under" and the album it was on, "Business As Usual," reached No. 1 on the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. The song remains an unofficial anthem for Australia and was ranked fourth in a 2001 music industry survey of the best Australian songs. Men at Work won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
The court did not immediately set a date for the next hearing in the lawsuit.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNnp6--mfdklbDpSOOm-HCI-YXnQD99OGM381
A federal judge ruled that publisher Larrikin Music owns the copyright to the tune of "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" — a Girl Guide favorite from New Zealand to Canada. The judge's ruling clears the way for a further hearing about whether Men at Work is guilty of copyright infringement.
Larrikin claims the distinctive flute riff in "Down Under" was copied from the refrain of "Kookaburra," a song about the native Australian bird written in 1934 by a teacher named Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition. Sinclair died in 1988.
Lawyers for Men at Work's recording companies — Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia — reject that claim. They had also argued that Larrikin doesn't even own the copyright to the children's tune, telling the judge last month that the Girl Guides — known as Girl Scouts in the U.S. — were more entitled to the rights.
But on Thursday, Federal Court Judge Peter Jacobson ruled that Larrikin did indeed own the copyright to "Kookaburra," accepting the publisher's claim that it bought the rights after Sinclair's death.
Larrikin is suing Sony and EMI for breach of copyright and compensation from royalties earned by Men at Work.
"Down Under" and the album it was on, "Business As Usual," reached No. 1 on the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. The song remains an unofficial anthem for Australia and was ranked fourth in a 2001 music industry survey of the best Australian songs. Men at Work won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
The court did not immediately set a date for the next hearing in the lawsuit.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNnp6--mfdklbDpSOOm-HCI-YXnQD99OGM381