Tories Use Keane Song Without Asking Permission
from the do-as-I-say,-not-as-I-do dept
Ah, those politicians. We've noticed a trend in politicians who support stronger, more draconian copyrights, quite frequently discovering that they don't think those same laws apply to themselves. This happened multiple times in France with Nicolas Sarkozy -- and recently in the UK with the Labour party -- who put forth the Digital Economy Bill -- apparently infringing on copyrights in a campaign poster. Of course, to push the DEB through, Labour did a deal with the Tories -- so is it really any surprise, as reader Rabbit80 submitted, that apparently the Tories used a Keane song without permission during their manifesto launch.It would be great if we could just take this as a "teaching moment" to remind these politicians just how easy it is to infringe upon copyright laws. But considering how quickly the Digital Economy Bill was shoved through Parliament recently with the help of the Tories, perhaps it's time to turn off the Tories' internet connection. Or maybe they can hope that their ISP is one of the ones that refuse to comply with the law.
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Filed Under: copyright, hypocrisy, tories, united kingdom
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Strike 1?
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PRS?
I doubt every shop and pub seeks specific permission to use each song - they just buy a CD of generic music and use that.
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Re: PRS?
These are politicians... what on earth would make you presume such a thing?
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Re: PRS?
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the more you focus on partisanship within politics, the large the role you have as part of the problem.
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The problem as I see it...
As far as I am concerned - this is the second strike by the Tories - the first being the Audi photo they stole (after Labour)
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Re: The problem as I see it...
That may be your opinion of how things should work, but it's my understanding that the standard contracts that artists sign don't give them this right. As others have pointed out, as long as the venue pays its dues, they can use any song that is covered by the license in any way they see fit. If an artist wants to exert that level of control over how their songs are used, they shouldn't sign with a label who works with big licensing organizations (like the RIAA).
If the artists want to sell their soul to big music, that's their right.
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What happened here?
How did they use the song? Was it played in a venue where they had some press conference or other event? Or was it used in a TV Commercial? Or some other way?
I'm unclear of UK laws; but in the US playing the song during a 'press rally' type of event is perfectly legitimate as long as the venue is properly paying performance fees to the related licensing body.
Permission to use the song cannot be denied; but I'm not sure if permission to use the original recording can be denied. I'm not sure which situation occurred here.
Is this really a situation where politicians have broken copyright law; or a position where the 'content owners' want to assert control over every aspect of the use of the content?
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