Coldplay's Viva La Vida, or Death and All His Friends, was released in June. (EMI Canada)In a polite rebuke posted on their website, Coldplay have denied American guitarist Joe Satriani's claim that they plagiarized his work.
The British band posted their reply Tuesday evening to a copyright infringement suit filed by Satriani in a Los Angeles court.
Satriani claims in his suit that Coldplay's track Viva La Vida includes "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental song If I Could Fly.
Coldplay denies any connection between the two pieces of music in its posting.
"With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations," the band writes.
"If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him.
"Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours."
Satriani, a Los Angeles-based guitarist who has played with Mick Jagger, is seeking a jury trial, damages and "any and all profits" attributable to the alleged copyright infringement.
Viva La Vida is Coldplay's biggest hit in a very successful career, going straight to No 1 on the U.K. charts when it was released in June.
Last week the band earned Grammy nominations for song of the year and record of the year for Viva La Vida.
The songwriting credits on the album are the band's four members — singer Chris Martin, bass player Guy Berryman, guitarist Johnny Buckland and drummer Will Champion. The title was inspired by a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
