Suing for the use of a key on the keyboard activating a function in a program is stupid as hell too, but it’s happened.
No, the stupidest is the lawsuit on whether a silence infringed on a silence of 4’33’'.
I think it’s pretty clear that it’s a deliberate echo of the song. It’s about Australia, so they’d do that as a kind of obscure reference.
But I can’t see why it matters to anyone, or should be pursued as a copyright infringement.
A good ten percent of the population of this planet needs to be bitchslapped.
We used to sing it at Brownies in the early to mid eighties, and I remember the Men at Work song very clearly too. It used to be on BFBS (the British Forces Broadcasting Service) all the time. I learnt both songs at about the same time. I never caught any kind of similarity between them.
However, you’ve all missed out a verse.
Kookaburra sits on the railway track
Along comes a train and squashes him flat
Splat, kookaburra, splat, kookaburra.
That’s the end of that, ha ha.
(We always sang the “ha ha”. Children are sick.)
That’s prolly a good tack for the arguments to take; that this is similiar to the “oriental” musical theme meme thingy. Musical satire, perhaps, which evokes an image of Australia (or some such… it’s early yet for me).
So did we, small town in Texas in the 70’s. Cute song.
I believe that can be used to get a UN resolution to bomb Australia. 
Kookaburra?! Seriously? Even if you could hear it in “Down Under” (which I CAN’T), I can’t believe it’s still even under copyright. We used to sing that in 4th grade, right here in the US!
I’ve been listening to this song on and off for 24 years, and never noticed the connection between the Kookaburra song and the flute riff before I read this thread. :smack:
Now I like the song even more.
I can definitely hear the similarity, and always thought it was intentional. I remember when the song came out - I thought, “Hey, it’s the kookaburra song!”
That said, this is a ridiculous lawsuit. Twenty-six years later? You snooze, you lose.
We sang the song here in the US; at summer camp and in elementary school (this would have been mid-late 70s).
Okay, I’ll admit, now that my aural memory has caught up to the rest of my brain and actually supplied my inner ear with the actual flute riffs, that it IS similar…but I would have never caught that on my own if I hadn’t read this thread.
I love Kookaburras - they’re awesome. The best are located in Canberra, laughing at Parliament.
Wish we had Kookaburras in D.C.
holy shit!
This is about the most annoying bird I have heard in a LONG time …
if one was sitting outside my window doing that for long, the shotgun would be coming out ASAP!
You probably owe copyright royalties from your last birthday party, btw.
My Australiophile (?) 5th-grade teacher had us singing Kookabura in 1988.
Kookaburra sits on an old gumtree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop! kookaburra, Stop, kookaburra
That’s not a monkey, that’s me!
I always heard it, and recognized it, but a lawsuit?
Obviously it was intentional. It was a song about Australia and a reference to an Australian bird. Not only that, but a reference a lot of people would actually get.
It was a lot clearer to me than “Sweet Talkin’ Guy” in “My Sweet Lord” but I figured the Kookaburra song was in the public domain, hence no problem.
I can think of tons of examples in jazz where there’s a little riff of something else. Why is this not okay in rock ‘n’ roll?
Yeah, it’s ridiculous, but not as bad as the rock star who got sued for plagiarizing hismelf.*
ETA: John Fogarty, as someone else said.
Also: We sang the Kookaburra song in grade school in the '50s. Beat that, you guys.
As I said upthread, I remember singing it in Music class in elementary school, in the “Music from around the World” units.
I think *Kookaburra *and *Waltzing Matilda *were the full extent of Australia-themed songs. 
Huh. I always figured a kookaburra was some sort of koala. You learn something new every day.
If the Kookaburra song is still under copyright, aren’t we infringing it by posting the lyrics here? I smell a lawsuit!
In the US, in order to get statutory damages and attorney fees, you have to file in a timely manner. If this was true down under, then the guy is going to lose money on the case. OTOH, in the UK, they’re still fighting over “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”