Politician's promo DVD strikes bad chord in New Zealand
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 | 1:11 PM ET
CBC News
A New Zealand politician has found himself in hot water after issuing a promotional DVD featuring a musical riff deemed too similar to a hit song by British band Coldplay.
John Key, leader of New Zealand's opposition National Party, ordered a recall on Monday of the 20,000 DVDs his office began distributing last week.
Launched last Tuesday, the disc was intended to familiarize the public with Key and includes footage of the party leader travelling the country, visiting with citizens and discussing his views and goals.
The DVD's soundtrack includes a musical segment that sounds very close to a key riff from Coldplay's chart-topper Clocks.
According to Key, his office received a letter from the band's record label, EMI, complaining of copyright infringement.
Key has blamed the production company behind the DVD for the snafu and said that a new version of the disc — without the music in question — would be re-issued by the end of the week.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- An Ontario judge was moved to tears while delivering a life prison sentence to a serial carjacker who killed a woman and injured five others after driving a stolen van into her car during a 2010 police chase. more »
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- The federal government is shutting the Canadian consulate in Buffalo less than two years after costly renovations, while dropping a requirement for visas to be renewed outside the country, CBC News has learned. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Canadian restrained on flight to Miami arrested
- A 24-year-old Canadian man is in federal custody for rushing toward the front of an American Airlines flight from Jamaica after the plane landed in Miami. more »
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest

- The difficulty, danger and expense of removing the bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone" mean most of the dead remain on the mountain as a stark reminder to other climbers of the risks. more »
- Suspect in Etan Patz death charged with murder
- A New Jersey man accused of luring six-year-old Etan Patz into a New York City convenience store in 1979 and killing him has been charged with second-degree murder. more »
- Unloading of docked SpaceX capsule to start Saturday
- The privately bankrolled SpaceX Dragon capsule made a historic arrival at the International Space Station on Friday, and astronauts will begin unloading some of the 544 kilograms of food, water, clothing and other supplies its carrying starting Saturday. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz Arrest, Helene Campbell & Facebook Flop May. 24, 2012 8:54 PM Three decades after a U.S. child Etan Patz disappeared, an arrest has finally been made.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's family asks for government help
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
- Conservatives move again to have robocalls suits tossed

