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It seems all those Vegemite sandwiches are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Aussie one-hit wonders Men At Work.
A Sydney judge ruled on Tuesday that Men At Work—and the band’s label, EMI—owed 5 percent of the royalties (since 2002) for their homeland ode, “Down Under,” to publisher Larrikin Music, after it was revealed the song’s flute solo came from the Larrikin-owned 1934 recording of kiddie classic “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” EMI plans to appeal the decision according to the NYT report, but perhaps they should consider themselves lucky: Larrikin originally sued for 60 percent of the royalties.
And while Men at Work are busy at work writing checks, you can watch frontman Colin Hay perform “Down Under” live at the Paste studio:
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Watch Colin Hay Live At Paste
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To be fair to Men at Work, they were not one-hit wonders. U.S. hit singles included the #1 hit "Who Can It Be Now?," as well as "Be Good Johnny,(#3)" Overkill,(#3)" Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Jive,(#12)" and "It's a Mistake.(#6)" They were hit makers from 1981-1983 and had 2 successful albums.
Of COURSE it was Kookaburra! I knew that from day one, all those years ago. That was the point.
Sheesh. Sometimes it's obvious that copyright law is out of control. Like suing Harrison for "My Sweet Lord."
If you're gonna do that, then Lou Reed needs to sue because "Baba O'Reilly" and "Ain't Seen Nothin Yet" and "Short Skirt Long Jacket" all reference "Sweet Jane."
That's where art comes from: taking others' ideas and modifying them.