Andy J. Gallagher is the one making the accusation. Actually, it’s more like an observation than an accusation. Gallagher isn’t actually saying Coldplay ripped off his video, but he does say it looks as if someone connected with the band’s vid had probably seen his video first.

The latest brouhaha comes on the heels of Coldplay and Joe Satriani reaching an agreement over the band’s “Viva la Vida.” Earlier this year Satriani sued Coldplay, claiming the band copied “substantial, original portions” of his 2004 song “If I Could Fly,” for “Viva la Vida.”

Last week attorneys for both sides asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to dismiss the case, indicating some kind of private settlement was reached. The judge honored the lawyers’ requests, ordering both sides to pay their own legal expenses.

Now comes Gallagher, who says Coldplay’s video for “Strawberry Swing” looks very similar to the video he shot for his song “Something Else.”

But you gotta wonder – if artists start accusing each other of plagiarism over music videos, where will it all end? Bands suing each other for concert effects like pyro, lights and fog?

How similar is Coldplay’s video to Gallagher’s? It’s more like the videos share a similar concept – people interacting with drawings on a chalkboard.

Coldplay’s video is rather high-tech, while Gallagher’s is more along the lines of DIY. Although Gallagher has said he doesn’t think anyone in the band had ever seen his video, he isn’t ruling out the possibility that someone connected with either the band or the video’s production might have seen his work first. In a recent posting on his Web site, Gallagher wrote:

“Further to the increasing coverage the ‘coldplays video looks an awful lot like andy j gallagher’s one,’ i would like to add the following. there are similarities between the two videos and we wrote to coldplays management asking them to explain the bizarre coincidences between the videos (both in style and script) and also to qualify chris martins assertion that ‘strawberry swings’ video is “unique and groundbreaking”. surprisingly, they took the time to respond by email with the following: “i’m afraid the creative on the video was written by shynola not coldplay”.

What do you think? Do you believe Coldplay “borrowed” elements of Gallagher’s vid for their own music video? Or does this sound like an artist trying to drum up some publicity at a famous band’s expense? Check out both videos embedded below, answer our little poll, and perhaps drop a remark or two in the comment thread. 

Oh, and we should warn you that Gallagher’s video contains an cuss word or two. So you might want to be extra careful if viewing this while at work, school, etc…

 

Click here for Andrew J. Gallagher’s Web site.

Click here for Coldplay’s Web site.