Tories Use Keane Song Without Asking Permission

from the do-as-I-say,-not-as-I-do dept

Mon, Apr 19th 2010 4:20am — Dennis Yang

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

14 Comments

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Marcel de Jong (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 3:44am

Strike 1?
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IanVisits, 19 Apr 2010 @ 4:35am

PRS?
Presuming that they paid the UK's PRS fee for using music in a public place, why would they need permission from each and every single artist to use their music?

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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Planespotter (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 4:54am

If the venue had a valid entertainments license and was up to date with his payments this is just a case of a band with probably left leaning liberal tendancies being a bit miffed that the song got used by the Tories..... Would they have complained if Nick Clegg used it as a backing track to his latest Youtube vid?
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PaulT (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 5:01am

Re:
Yet another reason for bands to avoid major labels and the traditional recording industry - your music can literally be made to make the world a worse place for you, and there's nothing you can do about it!
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Richard, 19 Apr 2010 @ 5:38am

Re:
It's always been that way, the Republicans that renounce sinful activities regularly tap-dance in someone else's stall. They think they're above the law. They make these laws just so they can break them and get away with it.
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Rabbit80, 19 Apr 2010 @ 6:10am

The problem as I see it...
...is that permission ought to be sought when this music is being used for PR purposes - especially when the motive for using it is poitical gain. This has nothing to do with performing rights.

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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reboog711 (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 6:15am

What happened here?
I'm unclear exactly what has occurred here; and RTFA didn't help.

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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Free Capitalist (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 6:22am

Re: PRS?
Presuming that they paid the UK's PRS fee for using music in a public place

These are politicians... what on earth would make you presume such a thing?
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Comboman, 19 Apr 2010 @ 6:39am

Re: PRS?
While that's true, an election manifesto launch party is not like background music in a typical shop or pub. It strongly implies that the creators of the music endorse the political party (which is clearly not the case here).
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Hulser (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 7:37am

Re: The problem as I see it...
permission ought to be sought when this music is being used for PR purposes

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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harbingerofdoom (profile), 19 Apr 2010 @ 8:31am

Re: Re:
becuase ya know, libs NEVER do anything like that [insert roll-eyes here]

the more you focus on partisanship within politics, the large the role you have as part of the problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Apr 2010 @ 12:48pm

probably some twenty something abusing downloader who selected the music. i am sure that the leaders didnt sit down and decide to steal someones music. another non story from techdirt.
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Josh, 19 Apr 2010 @ 1:09pm

What happens if you already sold your Soul to Hell Pizza in New Zealand via there website??? Is their an arbitration process???
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Rabbit80, 20 Apr 2010 @ 2:15am

Re:
I suppose this is a bit of a non-story really... but lets not forget that the Digital Economy Bill that was pushed through by both the Tories and Labour without proper debate works on the assumption of guilt upon accusation.. ergo this is the Tories second strike!
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