Coke have reached an agreement with that unsigned London band who claimed the drinks giant had ripped off one of their songs and videos for a TV ad campaign in South America. The band, 7 Seconds Of Love, had worried that they wouldn't be able to afford to sue the drinks brand over the alleged copyright theft, especially if the litigation would need to take place in Argentina where the ad was made and aired. But seemingly Coke weren't too keen to face the PR damage that could be created if they took on an unsigned band in the courts and, having accepted that their ad "borrowed liberally" from 7 Seconds' song 'Ninja', and the video they made for it, they decided to settle out of court (which seems rather sensible if you ask me - odd to see common sense coming out of a multi-national's legal department).
The bands Joel Veitch told reporters on Monday: "They [Coke] have a policy of not litigating against bands and we came to a nice agreement". The financial settlement reached has not be disclosed, although the band are expected to donate some of the money to charity.
A Coke spokesman added: "The Coca-Cola Company has a long history of working with some of the best artists around the world. The creative talent of 7 Seconds Of Love is quite evident and we wish them all the best in their musical endeavours".
The out of court settlement isn't the only good news for 7 Seconds Of Love. The whole incident, which began when fans alerted Veitch to the similarity between the ad and his work, might just help the band launch themselves too. They plan to capatilise on the media coverage of the Coke dispute by digitally releasing 'Ninja' in a bid to get into the singles charts. Veitch continued: "It's really good for the band. You never know, maybe we could get into the charts. We've never had the money to do a very good job, but now we've got into a good studio and have got a fantastic management team behind us. Getting the band going would be brilliant, jumping around in front of thousands of people is better than fiddling with computers".