Coldplay responds to ‘Viva La Vida’ lawsuit

Band says any similarities to Satriani music ‘coincidental, surprising’

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updated 2:48 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2008

NEW YORK - Coldplay is firing back against accusations they copied another artist’s work for their hit “Viva La Vida.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, the band responded to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by guitarist Joe Satriani last week. That lawsuit says the Grammy-nominated song contains “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 song, “If I Could Fly.”

Says Coldplay: “If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him.

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The statement goes on to say: “Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song ‘Viva La Vida.’ We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors.”

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