Music

Men at Work lose final 'Kookaburra' plagiarism appeal

Published Monday, Oct 10 2011, 04:47 BST | By Rebecca Davies | Add comment

Men at Work have lost their final attempt to prove that they did not plagiarise a melody from a children's song.

In 2009, the Australian group were accused of stealing the flute riff in their hit single 'Down Under' from 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' by publishing company Larrikin Music, which has the copyright for the original song.

Last year, a judge found that the majority of the melody replicated 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' and demanded that EMI Songs Australia and songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert pay 5% of royalties earned from 'Down Under' since 2002.

Larrikin Music initially sought up to 60% of the band's profits, but the judge described their compensation demands as "excessive, over-reaching and unrealistic".

Men at Work appealed the case and lost in March this year, and, according to AAP, the High Court of Australia ruled last Friday that they will not be allowed to appeal the decision again.

EMI and Men at Work have insisted that they did not intentionally copy the song and instead wanted to pay tribute to it as an classic Australian melody.

Watch the video for Men at Work's 'Down Under' below: