[Dixielandjazz] Copyright Infringement for Kookaburras.

[Stephen G Barbone]

Dear Bill:

Be careful what you Robber Dogs play. Stay away from "Kookaburra Sits  
In the Old Gum Tree." Even though it sounds as if it would make a  
great 2 chord OKOM song. Especially for young audiences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1fO1je3Oxg

Ginny, for the Ukulele version, go to: (be sure to watch the one man  
band at the end Uke + Drum + didgeridoo) <grin>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phh5S2oOHL8&feature=fvw

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband


Take Cover: Judge Rules Men at Work Must Pay Royalties on ‘Down Under’

NY TIMES - JULY 6, 2010, 9:18 AM - BY DAVE ITZKOFF

For the moment, at least, Mel Gibson may no longer be the most  
mortified celebrity of Australian descent. On Tuesday a judge in  
Sydney ruled that the Australian band Men at Work must share a part of  
its royalties for the vintage 1980s hit “Down Under” with the  
publisher of a classic children’s song, The Associated Press reported.

If the flute solo on “Down Under” (the No. 1 hit on which Men at Work  
praises its homeland “where beer does flow and men chunder”) is  
instantly evocative for you, it was even more familiar to Larrikin  
Music, the company that holds the rights to “Kookaburra Sits in the  
Old Gum Tree.” Larrikin said that song, written by Marion Sinclair in  
1934 for the youth organization Girl Guides, was the source of the  
flute solo. Justice Peter Jacobson of Australian federal court agreed  
and said that EMI Songs Australia and the authors of “Down Under,”  
Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, must pay the publisher 5 percent of the  
royalties they made from the song since 2002 and from any future  
earnings.
EMI said it would appeal the ruling. Larrikin had sought as much as 60  
percent of the “Down Under” royalties, a figure that surely would have  
resulted in some chundering.