Joe Satriani has told reporters that suing Coldplay over his plagiarism allegations was the last thing he wanted to do, but that he was left with no choice after the band refused to talk to him about the issue.
As reported yesterday, Satriani claims that the melody in the title track from the recent Coldplay album, 'Viva La Vida', is taken from his instrumental song 'If I Could Fly'. He has begun legal proceedings at the LA Federal Court, alleging the band used "substantial original portions" of his song.
Speaking to MusicRadar he said that he wasn't taking legal action out of "malice", but that: "I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song. I did everything to prevent the case going to court, but Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know. But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way".
He also talked about the first time he heard the Coldplay song, saying: "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much. Almost immediately, from the minute their song came out, my e-mail box flooded with people going, 'Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off man'. I mean, I couldn't tell you how many e-mails I received. Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious".
Coldplay are yet to respond to the lawsuit, which seeks a jury trial, damages and "any and all profits" linked to the track.