Music publisher EMI have just lost an appeal in the Federal Court against paying royalties for Men At Work‘s plagiarising of a classic Aussie folk song for their hit, ‘Down Under’.
The case attracted headlines last year when publishing company Larrikin music sued EMI, maintaining that the flute line in the 1979 club banger was lifted from proto-chillwave track ‘Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree,’ written by a Melbourne school teacher for girl guides in 1934. Larrikin had originally wanted up to sixty percent of the profits from ‘Down Under’, telling the court that both the song and subsequent greatest hits album had profited off their melody and they were entitled to a slice. Singer Colin Hay hit back, claiming that if the case was to be successful, it would spell ruin for the music industry.
“What was born out of creative musical expression, became both a technical and mathematical argument. This ruling will have lasting repercussions, and I suspect not for the better,” he said.
In the end Larrikin received 5% of the profits, which they will keep as a result of EMI’s unsuccessful appeal.
Related: Dave Sedaris on “Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree” and his affinity for the line “how gay your life must be”.
Via ABC News
