Coldplay sued for copyright infringement again

17 January 2010

By Ben Evans

Coldplay have found themselves on the wrong end of a copyright infringement claim again.

Last year it was guitarist Joe Statriani who issued a claim on the basis that 'Viva La Vida' infringed his song 'If I could fly' although this claim was later withdrawn.

Now its an unknown song writer Sammie Lee Smith. Smith claims to have written some of Coldplays biggest hits such as 'Yellow' and 'Clocks'. Smith claims that since 1976 he's: "recorded approximately 100 tapes, each tape containing approximately 40 songs,". He wants Coldplay to stop performing those songs and also (unsurprisingly) he also wants monetary damages

It seems strange that Smith has waited so long to bring such a claim and raises serious issues regarding limitation. Copyright infringement claims are notoriously difficult to bring and unless Mr Smith has substantial backing it is likely that he will struggle against the backing Coldplay will have.

Ben Evans is a trainee solicitor specialising in intellectual property law and information technology law.