Sydney: A Sydney judge has ordered Australian band Men at Work to hand over a portion of the royalties from their 1980s hit Down Under, after ruling the group copied the song's distinctive flute riff from a children's campfire song.
Federal Court Justice Peter Jacobson said Men at Work's recording company, EMI Songs Australia, and Down Under songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert must pay 5 per cent of royalties earned from the song since 2002 and from its future earnings.
However, the figure was far less than the 60 per cent sought by publishing company Larrikin Music, which holds the copyright for the song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.
In February, Jacobson ruled the band had copied the flute melody in Down Under from Kookaburra.
