Men at Work frontman slams court ruling

Men at Work frontman Colin Hay has slammed a copyright ruling against the band's smash hit Down Under as a win for "opportunistic greed".

Hay said "creative musical endeavour" would suffer as a result of yesterday's controversial Federal Court decision.

But the 56-year-old rock musician said the ruling, which found the 1980s classic had ripped off the popular children's tune Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, would not stop him performing the song.

"Down Under lives in my heart, and may perhaps live in yours. I claim it, and will continue to play it, for as long as you want to hear it," Hay said in a statement.

"When I co-wrote Down Under back in 1978, I appropriated nothing from anyone else's song. There was no Men At Work, there was no flute, yet the song existed ....that's the truth of it."

Meanwhile, the stars of Spicks and Specks have gone to ground over the ruling, despite unintentionally sparking the furore in the first place.

Those involved in the ABC music quiz show are understood to be upset over the decision but have refused to comment on the matter.

The 18-month court battle was launched by Larrikin Music Publishing, which owns the copyright to the Kookaburra song, after Spicks and Specks host Adam Hills asked this question on air: "Which children's song is contained in the song Down Under?"

The correct answer was Kookaburra.

An ABC spokeswoman said Hills and his co-stars Myf Warhust and Alan Brough were not willing to comment on the verdict.

But ninemsn understands the personalities and the show's producers are unhappy with the result.

"No comment ... I really don't want to be quoted about this," Spicks and Specks executive producer Anthony Watt said when contacted by ninemsn.

Yesterday's verdict is likely to cost music company EMI, as well as Mr Hay and co-songwriter Ron Strykert, millions of dollars in royalties.

In handing down his decision, Federal Court Justice Peter said the famous flute riff from Down Under was unmistakably the same as the children's tune Kookaburra.

In the end, it was Men at Work singer/songwriter Colin Hay's own admission that he sang Kookaburra while performing Down Under from 2002 that helped the judge come to his decision, Justice Jacobson said.