Glass Candy and Air France plead not guilty over ‘Love Is In The Air’ infringement

Both main defendants of the “Love Is In The Air” copyright infringement case – US electro duo Glass Candy and Air France – have told a Sydney court that they are not guilty of any wrongdoing.

John Paul Young’s global hit’s songwriters, Harry Vanda and the late George Young’s Boomerang Investments are claiming Glass Candy’s ‘Warm In The Winter’ used the melody and the recurring line “love is in the air” and the subsequent chordal structure.

‘Warm In The Winter’ was penned by Glass Candy’s producer and multi-instrumentalist John Padgett aka Johnny Jewel and Lori Monahan aka Ida No.

They met in Portland in 1995 at a grocery store where Monahan and formed the band a year later.

Australian actress Rose Byrne starred in the video for their 2007 song ‘Digital Versicolor’ which featured in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2008 film Bronson.

Padgett said in Sydney Federal Court documents that he was “distressed” at the accusation, and stated, “I did not believe there was any basis for it.”

He said he had not heard the Vanda-Young song before he wrote his number.

‘Warm in the Winter’ has been used in films, TV shows, and ads, including US television series Scream Queens.

Its most profile use was on Air France’s 2015–2018 France Is In The Air campaign, and also included their pre-flight safety video.

The airline is also included in the lawsuit.

Chris Dimitriadis, for the airline, said that the idea for France is in the Air was worked on two years earlier by its ad agency, and the Glass Candy song was added on later because of the lyrical sentiment.

Air France said it had got the proper clearance for the Glass Candy song, and “It did not make any unauthorised use of the applicants’ copyright works.”

He said the airline campaign song “was a very different piece of music to ‘Love Is In The Air’” and “a melody that crosses borders.”

The defendants’ argument was that the phrase “love is in the air” was commonly used in everyday speech.

The hearing continues tomorrow before Justice Nye Perram.