Metallica sues over E, F chords

Not unlike the band that’s being sued, I thought it was a joke when I read that Metallica is suing a Canadian band over E, F chords:

“People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it from our point of view just once,” stated Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “We’re not saying we own those two chords, individually – that would be ridiculous. We’re just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to associate E, F with our music.”

What? Huh? Oh, come on! There’s gotta be some prior art here or something. If someone steals your song, you can sue for copyright infringement. But, to sue some small indie band because they use two chords you like just seems insane. Good thing that Metallica features prominently in Sue All The World.