Jake of the Web

But that doesn't mean Coldplay "won". Many people watching the case feel that Satriani had a valid case and that Coldplay likely settled with Satriani out of court. This ruling, however, allows Coldplay to maintain they performed no wrongdoing.

My main concern is that, as the less well-known of the two artists, Satriani will face a backlash or an uprising against him, much like Metallica has since the days of Metallica vs. Napster (language in that link is NSFW). I still know people who will not buy a Metallica album to this day because of their "money grubbing" ways).

What is more likely to happen, however, is a lot of people who otherwise never would have heard of Satriani will find he is an amazing guitarist and a talented musician overall, hopefully increasing his popular exposure - since I have a feeling that existing Satriani fans will not turn against him in the light of this lawsuit.





An interesting element to this case is the specter of another possible lawsuit from Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) for infringement by Coldplay on his song Foreigner Suite.