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Australian band Men at Work, who had a global hit record with Down Under, are facing a hefty bill after being found guilty of plagiarism.

[in their hey-day]

They may now have to pay out thousands of pounds in royalties to another music publisher.

A judge in Sydney ruled that a flute riff on Down Under bore an unmistakable resemblance to Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree - a folk tune written in 1935.

Marion Sinclair, a teacher who wrote the song for a Girl Guide Jamboree, has since died, but in 1990 the rights to the song were bought by music company Larrikin.Their lawyer, Adam Simpson, described the verdict as “a big win for the underdog” and said he would be pushing for up to 60% of earnings of the song.

Federal Court judge Peter Jacobson said: “I have come to the view that the flute riff in Down Under in the 1979 recording and 1981 recording infringes on the copyright of Kookaburra, because it replicates in material form a substantial part of Ms Sinclair’s 1935 work.”

In 2009, Ron Strykert, who co-wrote Down Under, denied he had stolen the idea. But he acknowledged he was influenced by it.

“I wouldn’t call it plagiarism. I would call it just playing, being funny, just a little touch,” he said.

The judge said Larrikin was entitled to an as-yet-undetermined amount of unpaid royalties and compensation from both Men at Work and music labels Sony BMG and EMI.

Not only did the song reach Number One in the UK and America, it became an unofficial Australian anthem, loved by Aussies abroad, and featured in the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony.

It celebrates beer and Vegemite sandwiches, while acknowledging that Australia is a land where men “chunder”.

[news source: confidential.com]

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