KEY POINTS:
National have had to face the music and hit mute on its DVD promoting leader John Key because of legal issues.
Thousands of copies of the 12 minute Ambitious for New Zealand - Meet John Key DVD, launched last week to coincide with his first year as leader, are to be recalled.
The online version is running without any music after National pulled the featured tune - composed by "an Auckland artist" and paid for by a production company but extremely similar to Clocks, a Coldplay song.
Concerns were raised by the Australasian Performing Rights Association and the copyright holder for Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, EMI, was notified. National was then contacted by EMI lawyers.
National's campaign manager Jo de Joux blamed the production company, Production Shed TV.
"Obviously, National relied on the expertise of the production company that put together the video and its soundtrack," Ms de Joux said.
"We'll take all available steps to retrieve copies of the DVD which have already been distributed to electorates, and we have replaced it on our website and National's You Tube channel."
Ms de Joux said National was taking all steps it could to fix the problem; "because really at the end of the day this shouldn't be what we are talking about".
She would not say how much the DVD cost, expected to be thousands of dollars, or whether the company would now foot the bill. As the DVD was a giveaway there were no royalties.
Ms de Joux confirmed the original Coldplay song was used at the National Party conference this year - but it had got one-off user rights for that.
Prime Minister Helen Clark described the incident as a "botch up".
"How they intend to get back the copies handed out on windy street corners I couldn't say."
Miss Clark said she had not watched it.
"I have not seen the thing, but I hear it's a bit on the vacuous side."
The Weekend Herald interviewed Dr Graeme Downes, Verlaines frontman now a musicology consultant at Otago University.
He said the music shared the same rumba beat, harmony and chords as Clocks and had other similarities.
"If I were approached by a lawyer to furnish a report for a prosecution of copyright infringement against the music on the DVD I would happily do so. If approached by a lawyer to furnish a report in its defence, I would decline."
Martin is aligned with left wing causes and opposed the Iraq War and George Bush. In 2004 while accepting best record Grammy for Clocks he endorsed United States presidential candidate Democrat John Kerry.
Mr Key's "conversational" DVD was aimed at people who had never met him - partly to counter the perception among some that they do not know too much about the man who wants to be prime minister.
He will be hoping the lyrics of the Coldplay song do not reflect on his political career - they talk about not being able to be saved, confusion that never stops and wondering if one is part of the cure or the disease.
- NZPA
Dr Graeme Downes' analysis as given to the Weekend Herald:
Differences
* Topography of the arpeggiated melody has been inverted (turned upside down). Given the similarities listed below this is insufficient I would argue to constitute an autonomous composition.
* Tempo of the passage used in the DVD might be slightly different than Coldplay's "Clock", but it is very close. As for the difference tempo makes in recognition you only have to think of renditions of the national anthem at test matches-slow or slightly more brisk- it will still be recognisable.
Similarities
* Harmony-VII-iv-iv-i) same in both
* Key - both in the same key (F minor) which draws even greater attention to the harmonic similarity
* Rhythmic characteristics-both share a rumba rhythm or a 123, 123, 12 quaver pulse.
* Drums enter in a similar fashion and both follow the established rumba pattern accentuating the downbeat of each 3+3+2 rhythmic components of said rumba rhythm.
