The carnival band Kapotte Kachels is ready for the lawsuit against ABBA. The Swedish pop group believes that the carnival song Dikke Pens is too similar to the hit Take a Chance on Me. In the court in Utrecht on Wednesday, the band wants to demonstrate that their song is a parody and not a cover. “We feel quite confident,” says Sander Ottens.
“We are looking forward to this match. It is a kind of preliminary match between the Netherlands and Sweden,” Ottens jokes, referring to the World Cup match of the Dutch team against Sweden on Saturday. “We feel quite confident, but it is of course exciting to see what they will pull out of their hat. Still, we are in good shape. That gives us confidence.”
Dikke Pens, which was created together with Rene van Rooij, was removed from streaming services Spotify and Apple Music in March 2025 due to an alleged violation of ABBA’s copyrights.
According to the Swedes it is a cover, while the Kapotte Kachels say the song is a parody. This is legally sensitive, because rights holders may object to the use of their music.
The carnival band first tried to reach a solution with ABBA, but eventually went to court. “We tried many things to find a solution together, but discovered that there was no room for discussion. If Universal and ABBA had communicated better, it would not have gotten to this point. There were no options left.”
Satisfying
In order to sue ABBA, the group raised 25,000 euros through donations. “We really appreciate that people have donated. Their money allows this lawsuit to continue. We are grateful to them for that.”
According to Ottens, it still feels unfair that the song has been removed from Spotify. “We did something that is allowed under Dutch law and a large party takes the number offline. We are outraged about that.”
Injustice
The group is now missing out on a few thousand euros in income from streams. “But that is not super relevant. Of course that is also important, but an injustice has been done to us. We want to correct that.”
“We want the song back on Spotify,” says Ottens. “If we can do that, we will have won.” The group especially wants the song to become available again in the Netherlands. “It doesn’t have to be online in Sweden, we are purely concerned with the Netherlands.”
Different meaning
The lawsuit costs the band members a lot of time. According to them, all four of them lost about a full month of work, even before the lawyer was called in. “If it turns out that we can beat Universal and be right, it will be worth it.”
Due to all the attention, the song has now taken on a different meaning, according to Ottens. “It was one of our better songs anyway, but people are now even more enthusiastic and there is an extra dimension to it. It is no longer about the song, but the whole situation surrounding it.”
This is the song it’s all about: