Is rock guitarist Joe Satriani’s assertion that Coldplay plagiarized his 2004 release “If I Could Fly” for use in “Vida la Vida” reasonable and actionable? As a trained musician, I can see where the comparison of the two tracks in question seem to weigh in favor of Satriani. However, one should not yet rush to judgment.

Plagiarism cases in the musical industry are not easy to argue successfully. The notions of access and substantial similarity justifiably raise the suspicion that one musician copied from another but doesn’t serve to conclude necessarily that plagiarism actually existed. Access is easy to establish. It only refers to the fact that the song was published and was available to the accused plagiarist. There is no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the song became famous or was a hit.

Also, Satriani, 52, a gifted guitarist with a long career of instrumental rock albums, does not have to show that the whole of the defendant’s song was copied. All he has to establish is that a sufficiently large enough intact musical fragment of protected creative expression was copied. In other words, Coldplay could not use as a defense that the band members only took some of Satriani’s song and then added their own touches.

I know that lots of bloggers are comparing chord progressions and saying that it is a slam dunk case. But, that’s not what’s at issue here. The chordal progressions in both songs are among the most commonly used in pop rock. However, anybody with a reasonable well trained musical ear will pick up on the more telling textures and elements of these recordings. They have the feel that Coldplay unashamedly copied those more subtle, nuanced elements of pacing, effects, fingering and right-hand technique, musical color and emotion, accents and stresses that define the work of a deeply talented, extensively practiced instrumentalist such as Satriani. The backing instrumentation in both cases also appear to be substantively similar.

And, that is why cases of musical plagiarism are extremely difficult to judge because even expert musicians (or, in this case, guitarists) could provide compelling justifications on both sides of the matter. Copying Satriani’s musical scores and annotations is one thing. However, a more compelling standard of judgment here rests on our own human capacity to respond and react to music which goes well beyond what a fully annotated score and chord chart would suggest.

The best rock critics have not been impressed with Coldplay. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote famously in 2005 that the band was the “most insufferable” of the decade. The New Yorker’s Sasha-Frere Jones said the following about the album that has garnered a chunk of Grammy nominations and is easily the best selling band album in an infamously lackluster year for the music business: “‘Viva la Vida’ is an album that keeps going out of focus, a series of disconnected pieces that is impossible to hold on to.”

Accusations of plagiarism are not new to Coldplay. In fact, Creaky Boards made the same claim against the same song in question earlier this year. Has Satriani so masterfully filtered into the music world’s creative subconsciousness?

In an earlier album, X&Y, Coldplay offered “Talk,” basically a cover with new lyrics of Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love.” The band did indicate co-writing credits for Kraftwerk on the album’s liner notes.

More despairingly, the instance suggests further evidence why pop music and rock seem to be quite limited in originality yet so prevalent in blandness. Publicly, Chris Martin, the band’s front man, seems hardly bothered by such allegations of plagiarism. And, the fact is that Coldplay’s veneer of success will be barely touched by this incident.