Washington, Dec 9 (ANI): Legendary guitarist Joe Satriani has accused rock band Coldplay for plagiarising one of his songs.

The 52-year-old veteran artist has filed a lawsuit at Los Angeles federal court against the band for their 2008 hit track Viva La Vida.

Satriani alleges that the Yellow hitmakers have copied segments from his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly to use in their track.

He also said that he never intended to instigate a full-fledged legal battle - but was forced to after the group refused to address his concerns.

"Everybody assumes I'm trying to go after these guys in Coldplay, as if I'm doing this with malice - that's the furthest thing from my mind," Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

"I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song.

"I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away.

"Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know. But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important," he added.

Satriani also insists that he was heartbroken after hearing the band had allegedly ripped off his tune.

"I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much. The second I heard it, I knew it was If I Could Fly," he said.

"Almost immediately, from the minute their song came out, my e-mail box flooded with people going, 'Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off man.' Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious," he added. (ANI)

Washington, December 9 (ANI): While Barack Obama might be drawing plans to get himself a new tuxedo, his wife Michelle may be on a designer hunt on what to wear at the inauguration ceremony.

The first African-American to become the First Lady of the United States is said to be on the list of top couturiers waiting to clad the wife of the President-elect in their threads on January 20, 2009.

However, the number of inauguration balls is yet to be announced, reports Fox News.

The former Senator from Illinois is known for her zeal for classic lines, elegant styles, and bold colours and fabrics.

The Princeton University and Harvard Law graduate had donned herself in a red Narcisso Rodriguez number on the election night that is set to give US it's first African-American President. (ANI)

London, December 9 (ANI): Letters of a 19th century scientist that are believed to have inspired Mary Shelley's immensely popular novel 'Frankenstein' have been made available for public view.

The two memos penned by Andrew Cross, an early pioneer and experimenter in the use of electricity, held details of his tests that included attracting lightening to strike a network of copper cables during electrical storms.

The scientist had become widely known after press reporting of an 1836 electrocrystallization experiment in which the Brit believed he saw creation of new life or "some products formed in a new manner".

Cross is said to have known Shelley through a common friend, poet Robert Southey.

Shelley, whose powerful narration of a scientist's ambition to create a being in the likeness of man, had attended Cross' London lecture in 1814, two years before she wrote the novel.

"Mary Shelley attended a lecture that he gave in London that was two years before she wrote Frankenstein," the Telegraph quoted Dr Janet Tall, head of the Somerset County Council's archives, as saying.

The letters that cost the council 400 pounds at an auction have been catalogued, and are set to be placed at the Somerset records office, along with other material relating to Crosse. (ANI)

Washington, Dec 9 (ANI): American actress Jessica Alba's leaked photos in the 2009 Campari calendar seem to have been airbrushed to give her a thinner look, say reports.

According to London's Daily Mail, Alba, 27, had an hourglass figure in the shot that was taken previously by celeb photographer Mario Testino, as she posed in a white strapless short suit with a black belt.

But in a later shot, her curves could no longer be seen, and her chin had been altered to look narrower, and her bust was given more definition.

Alba's comment about the shots was that she loved wearing comfortable clothes carrying her daughter Honor around.

"I'm usually walking around in comfy clothes, with a baby on my arm, and it's nice to dress things up and feel sophisticated, sexy, and surrounded by so much beauty," Us magazine quoted her as saying. (ANI)