Larrikin Music Vs Men at Work

A federal court judge yesterday has ruled in favor of music publisher Larrikin Music, finding that they own the copyright to a section of music in 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree' - A children's song written in the 1930's by Marion Sinclair, a music teacher of Melbourne.

This is a significant step forward in the publishers bid to secure royalties of Men at Work’s ‘Down Under’, as the argument had been Colin Hay and the band had replicated the melody line of the flute riff from Sinclair’s song and put it into their own, aiding it’s enormous success. The recognition of owning rights to the 1934 choir classic, originally written for a Girl Guides competition, gives Larrikin the chance to have their voice heard in court and a shot at the royalties experienced by the band after the song reached Number 1 on the Australian, American and British charts in 1983.

The row between the two parties started after a question on ABC’s television music quiz show ‘Spicks and Specks’ which was - 'What children's song is contained in the song Down Under?' The answer was: 'Kookaburra'.