These people Have time to sue the arse off each other – but they dont have the money to develop many new acts.
Men at Work stole tune in 80s hit ‘Down Under’ from ‘Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree’ – judge
By Robert Dominguez
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The Australian pop group Men At Work in 1983, with singer Colin Hay on the far left. The group may owe millions in back royalties for lifting a melody from children’s song ‘Kookaburra.’
Men at Work may owe millions in back pay.
A Sydney judge ruled on Thursday that the Aussie band behind the ’80s hit “Down Under” lifted the song’s catchy flute melody from a popular kid’s campfire song – and the company that owns the rights is owed years of retroactive royalties, reports msnbc.com.
The song, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,” was written in the 1930s by an Australian teacher, Marion Sinclair, who died in 1988. Publishing company Larrikan Music, which owns the copyright, filed a suit last year against Men at Work songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, and the band’s record companies Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia.
“I have come to the view that the flute riff in ‘Down Under’ . . . infringes on the copyright of ‘Kookaburra’ because it replicates in material form a substantial part of Ms. Sinclair’s 1935 work,” stated Federal Court Justice Peter Jacobson.
“Down Under” was a huge hit in the U.S., Australia and Great Britain in 1983, when Men at Work won a Grammy for best new artist.
The two sides are due back in court on Feb. 25, and a lawyer for Larrikin Music said the company may seek up to 60% of the royalties “Down Under” has earned in the past 27 years – which could be millions, according to msnbc.com.
