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AU Band Men At Work Owes Royalties On 'Kookaburra'

Posted by kdawson on from the that's-our-culture-they're-locking-up dept.

neonsignal writes "Iconic Australian band Men at Work have been ordered to pay royalties for an instrumental riff in their song 'Down Under.' The notes were sampled from a well-known children's song 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,' written in 1934 for a Girl Guide's Jamboree. The Justice found the claims of the copyright owner Larrikin to be excessive, but ordered the payment of royalties and a percentage of future profits. Let's hope the primary schools are up to date with their ARIA license fees!"

6 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Re:1934 by norpy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The person who wrote it wrote it as part of a competition for the girl scouts. She is long dead and the scouts sold the rights long ago.

  2. link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/06/2945781.htm

  3. The Lyrics by Anthony · · Score: 5, Informative
    Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
    Merry merry king of the bush is he
    Laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra
    Gay you life must be.

    Sung to the flute riff on "Land Down Under"

    --
    Slashdot: Where nerds gather to pool their ignorance
  4. Re:1934 by demonrob · · Score: 5, Informative

    wrong band. Peter Garrett was Midnight Oil.

  5. Somewhat bizarrely... by williamhb · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... the whole court case only happened as a result of a TV panel game, Spicks and Specks (Australian version of Never Mind The Buzzcocks). In how many years of every employee of that Australian music company presumably hearing Down Under played how many hundreds of times, nobody noticed until it came up as a curious fact on the telly...

    http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/quiz-show-sparks-aussie-anthems-battle/story-e6frfn09-1111117725552

  6. flute riff by martin-boundary · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqOIdtKZTG4