Sydney judge green-lights Vanda-Young lawsuit against Air France, US act, over ‘Love Is In The Air’

Justice Nye Perram  of the Federal Court in Sydney has green-lighted a lawsuit filed by Australian songwriting and production duo Harry Vanda and George Young, against US synth-pop duo Glass Candy and Air France.

The duo, along with Robert Albert’s company Boomerang Investments, which also holds copyright of the song, filed papers last October, some weeks before Young’s passing, Fairfax Media reported.

They claimed that the 2011 Glass Candy track ‘Warm In The Winter’ bears similarities to their 1977 disco-pop classic ’Love Is In The Air’.

The American song allegedly uses the phrase “love is in the air” and, it is alleged, the same melody line for that line.

"There is also some evidence that the subsequent chordal structure of both songs is the same," Justice Perram said last Friday, when allowing the case to go forward.

’I have listened to both songs and doing so arguably supports that view. I am satisfied, therefore, that there is a prima facie case.’

Also to be served are the song’s writers John Padgett and Lori Monahan.

‘Warm In The Winter’, which has nearly 3 million YouTube views, is distributed in Australia through Kobalt Music.

The song has been used in a number of films, jingles and TV series as Scream Queens.

But its highest profile sync was Air France’s use in its 2015 ad campaign ‘France Is In The Air’ as well as its pre-flight safety video.

Aesthetically beautiful, the airline ad was viewed 50 million times on social media that year.

The song was a global hit for John Paul Young, first in December 1977,

It reached #3 in Australia, #5 in the UK, #7 in the US and a Top 10 hit through Europe.

It became a hit again when used in the 1992 movie Strictly Ballroom.

It has also been covered countless times, including Tom Jones, Gary Barlow (under the name Kurtis Rush), Canadian Martin Stevens, Rupert Everett & Colin Firth for the movie St. Trinian’s and, in 2016, by Thomas Anders.