Men at Work

Men at Work star Greg Ham fears he'll be forced to "sell his house" to pay out royalties for their 1980s hit Down Under after the band lost a copyright battle over the song.

A judge in Australia has ruled that the flute solo in the track samples parts of Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, a song written by an music teacher for the Girl Guides in 1934.

The song's composers, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, will have to pay bosses at Larrikin music publishers five per cent of the song's proceeds dating back to 2002, as well as royalties from future earnings.

Flautist Ham, who receives a small percentage of the song's royalties, is devastated that his contribution to the famed track has been tarnished - and he worries the ruling will leave him broke.

He tells TheAge.com, "It has destroyed so much of my song. It will be the way the song is remembered and I hate that. I'm terribly disappointed that that's the way I'm going to be remembered - for copying something.

"I'll never see another cent out of that song again. We'll face massive legal costs. At the end of the day, I'll end up selling my house."

Ham remains baffled by the plagiarism accusations, adding: "No one detected it - I didn't detect it and I played the f**king thing. I was looking for something that sounded Australiana - that's what came out - it was never Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.

"Music's always been about referring to what's already in our culture."