Copying down under

An Australian Judge has ruled that the unmistakable flute riff in Men at Work’s hit single ‘Down Under’ was copied from the children’s song ‘Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree’. The Judge found that ‘Down Under’ reproduced a substantial part of ‘Kookaburra’ and therefore infringed its copyright.

‘Kookaburra’ was written by an Australian school teacher in 1934. ‘Down Under’ was recorded in 1979 and 1981 and has earned the band decades-worth of royalties.

Check out the Men at Work photo gallery and bio

What do you think about the ruling? Post a comment here.