Acclaimed Australian songwriter Harry Vanda and singer John Paul Young have appeared in a Sydney court as a copyright infringement case over their hit single Love Is In The Air goes to trial.
As News.com.au reports, American duo Glass Candy have been accused of ripping off the song in their 2011 single Warm In The Winter, an altered version of which was used in a three-year advertising campaign by Air France, who are also named in the suit alongside Kobalt Music Publishing.
Vanda, co-writer George Young’s estate, Boomerang Investments and two Australian copyright bodies are also pursing legal action against Glass Candy songwriters Lori Monahan and Johnny Padgett, aka Johnny Jewel, who is a celebrated producer and member of electronic outfit Chromatics.
The 1977 hit single was played in court alongside Warm In The Winter and the Air France version, the latter featuring the lyrics “France is in the air”.
“We say the material was deliberately copied with writers very familiar with Love Is In The Air, who had that song in mind when they composed Warm In The Winter,” barrister Michael Hall SC said.
The judge was reportedly not satisfied that any similarities were deliberate and Padgett claimed to have never heard Love Is In The Air prior to writing Warm In The Winter.
No verdict has been reached yet, with the trial set to continue.
