News January 15, 2018

Love is not in the air as Aussie songwriters launch copyright lawsuit

Lars Brandle

The Australian songwriting greats behind “Love Is In The Air” are getting up and away with a copyright lawsuit targeting France’s national carrier and a U.S. electro-pop duo who they claim infringed the copyright in their enduring hit.

Harry Vanda and the late George Young are joined by Boomerang Investments in a suit which alleges the song “Warm in the Winter,” released in 2011 by Portland, Oregon act Glass Candy, contains similarities to the popular song, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The case was filed last year in the Federal Court, just days ahead of Young’s death on Oct. 22.

Societe Air France, a subsidiary of Air France-KLM SA which operates the airline Air France, is also reportedly listed as a defendant in the paperwork for its use of the disputed song in a 2015 campaign, France is in the Air.

The complaint, according to the SMH, alleges that Glass Candy’s song also contains the line “Love is in the Air” and its melody is alleged to mimic that of the familiar Aussie tune.

Justice Nye Perram on Friday said, “There is also some evidence that the subsequent chordal structure of both songs is the same,” according to the SMH. “I have listened to both songs and doing so arguably supports that view. I am satisfied, therefore, that there is a prima facie case.”

“Love Is In The Air,” the 1977 disco track Vanda and Young wrote for John Paul Young, flew back up the charts when an updated version featured prominently in Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 feature film Strictly Ballroom. Last year the song was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive’s iconic Sounds of Australia collection.

News of the “Love” legal battle follows the filing last week of a U.S. copyright lawsuit by Sean Carey and Beau Golden, who claim their country song “When I Found You” was ripped off.

Compare “Love Is In The Air” and “Warm in the Winter” below and check out the “France is in the air” ad campaign.