After Hundreds Of 'Empire State Of Mind' Parodies... Why Does EMI Suddenly Take One Down?

from the these-copyrights-will-inspire-you dept

Wed, Aug 11th 2010 11:52am — Mike Masnick

Nearly a year ago, the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys collaboration Empire State of Mind was released. If you haven't heard it, you've been living under something of a rock:

The song went from popular to ridiculously popular after Jay-Z and Keys performed it before game two of the World Series at Yankee Stadium:

It also got a bit of a boost when Stephen Colbert took on the Jay-Z role and did a version with Keys, where he changed the lyrics to be about living in the suburbs:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

Fox News

Of course, that version -- a parody of the original -- was really just picking up on a popular trend showing up all over YouTube: people rewriting and performing Empire State of Mind with lyrics to reflect their own hometowns or other cultural groups. They were everywhere. A few months back, I remembered seeing one site list out 55 of the best such parodies (some much better than others), including all sorts of cities, big and small, as well as random other versions, such as College Humor's amusing Galactic Empire State of Mind, starring Darth Vader.

So, it seemed a bit odd that, nearly a year after this phenomenon, yet another of these parodies, called the Newport State of Mind, about the Welsh town of Newport went viral, with over a million views, but such is life in the viral video world.

Even odder? Apparently EMI has issued a takedown notice for just that one video pulling it off YouTube. This is despite literally hundreds of Empire State of Mind parodies on YouTube. Those 55 best parodies? They're all on YouTube (with the exception of the Darth Vader one...). Honestly, I thought this had to be a mistake, or some weird Content ID error by YouTube. Considering the vast number of these parodies that have all remained up this whole time, would EMI really issue a takedown for this one parody?

However, EMI seems to have confirmed that it's taken down the video. According to the BBC report:

A statement from EMI said: "When a song is created based wholly on any of our writers' works, those writers need to grant their permission.

"If that permission isn't granted, then we ask the service in question to remove the song."

And what about all those other parodies? And, of course, at least in the US, parody is often protected as fair use. I recognize this particular parody was done in Wales, but, still, the decision to take down this one video seems really, really odd.

Oh, and one other bit of irony? In looking up some of these parodies, I found this article, which notes that the key musical hook used by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys are sampled from a 1970s track from The Moments called Love on A Two Way Street:

So, it's a bit amusing that EMI is complaining about others building on top of this particular work...

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Filed Under: alicia keys, empire state of mind, jay-z, parody, takedown
Companies: emi

34 Comments

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Keven Sutton (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 11:57am

been hiding all this time.
well, consider me a rock dweller.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:01pm

Re: been hiding all this time.
like omigod how could u have not heard that song?!!!?
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:03pm

Proud member of the Rock Dwellers of America!!
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Hephaestus (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:32pm

Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
Shows how unimportant music really is to some people.
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AdamR (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:37pm

I wonder if they every gave credit(or cash) to the group for using the hook?
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R. Miles (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:38pm

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
"If you haven't heard it, you've been living under something of a rock."
Someone please get this rock off me. It hurts.

I didn't even click the video links.

You know, after shifting a bit to make this post, the rock doesn't hurt now. Never mind.

I'm going back where it's safe.
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Joe, 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:39pm

sigh....
This is what the rest of the world see's when they read this article.

http://tinypic.com/r/2iqdamw/4

It's like having a youtube embed that says - to watch this video, go to youtube.com. But not telling you which video it is. In other words, f*in useless.

No faults to Mike on this. I know he's been on the receiving end of it before. Still damn annoying...
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Overcast (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:41pm

End result: The customers just have another reason to not like the recording industry.
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Keven Sutton (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:54pm

Re: Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
not so much that music isn't important as this genre isn't.
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RadialSkid, 11 Aug 2010 @ 12:59pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
Same here. I don't care about this genre (or major label music in general), so I'm not familiar with the song, either.
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Karen, 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:01pm

But I Like My Rock!
I agree w/ Keven; it's not a matter of music not being important, just this genre isn't important to me. It it doesn't pop up on one of my special-tailored Pandora stations, I don't hear it.
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Scott Mehlman (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:02pm

Never heard of it
Can honestly say I never heard of this song, or the parodies until today. I must not be cool anymore :)
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:11pm

Re:
I would assume so. When a major label is putting major money behind a release by major artists, they are generally pretty good about clearing all the samples.

I guess stranger things have happened, though.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:19pm

Re:
Odds are pretty good that they did pay. However, odds are also good that the beat producer made the whole song using unlicensed samples, and that the label licensed them after the fact. Sample-based hip-hop producers absolutely rely on using unauthorized sounds throughout the creative process.

That's why a lot of early hip-hop has faced legal issues years after it was released. When albums like BIG's Ready To Die came out, nobody had really thought much about sampling so the album made it to the shelves without anyone noticing the copyright concerns. Years later (and years after BIG's death) that album was actually pulled from stores for awhile as the label retroactively sorted out licensing deals.

Another example is Kanye West's All Falls Down, which uses a chorus by Syleena Johnson. Though it was originally produced with a sample, when it came time to release the album the label discovered it was actually cheaper to hire Syleena to re-record the hook than it was to license the appropriate sample (about 10 seconds) from the existing recording.
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deathspal (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:38pm

Rock / I (Hip hop is not the only music out there)
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Modplan (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:42pm

They were in need of correcting any way, seems they got Newport mixed up with a few other towns and cities...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx8CZyFM4b4
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Dark Helmet (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 1:43pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
Agreed. I mean, if Justin Bieber isn't singing it, I'm not listening....
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Eugene (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 2:07pm

Do you even need permission to create a parody?? I thought that was one of those things that are protected by fair use?
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Fsm, 11 Aug 2010 @ 2:29pm

Oh the noise...
I just pressed play on all of those videos at once. THE NOISE. STOP THE NOISE.
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btrussell (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 2:30pm

Re: been hiding all this time.
Ditto.
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herodotus (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 2:41pm

"It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to sue degenerate offspring for copyright infringement, or to let them starve for their obvious musical inability, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind...

Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 3:37pm

The one thing apparent is that, they are using ineffective tools to find infringement and are not bothering to fact check that.

How about suing them for false statements I mean they already know the tools get it wrong but don't bother checking because there is no penalty for doing so apparently, despite the law being clear about copyfraud.

I think it is professional negligence when those people commit so many errors they are not layman, they are supposed to be trained professionals what are the excuses to get so many things wrong?

Have those professionals no obligation to check anything?
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 4:11pm

Re: been hiding all this time.
You're not alone. I barely know who Jay-Z is and I'm not sure about the chick. Is she a newer artist?

Disclaimer: I don't live under a rock, but I don't listen to that kind of music (punk rock is where my heart is). The parody was pretty funny, but I wouldn't listen to it more than once.
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Rose M. Welch (profile), 11 Aug 2010 @ 4:16pm

It's never been so good to live under a rock.
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Anonymous Howard, 11 Aug 2010 @ 5:39pm

Keys lip sync on the World Series one.....just sayin...
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2010 @ 6:25pm

I guess I live under a rock....
I hadn't heard the song until I clicked the link here, and I can't say I care for it much. The Star Wars bit looks humorous, but I still don't like the music.
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Jarrett Streebin, 11 Aug 2010 @ 8:32pm

the best one...
jew york!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtKsaB5xgxI
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John Lennon, 12 Aug 2010 @ 12:12am

Re: Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
Crappy music is unimportant to a lot of people.
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horace (profile), 12 Aug 2010 @ 12:49am

That's Odd...
Seeing as Nas did a song called 'New York State of mind' sixteen years ago (in his debut album Illmatic - best hip-hop album of all time), why would they be issuing takedown orders for a concept that really isn't their original idea?
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Hephaestus (profile), 12 Aug 2010 @ 6:27am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: been hiding all this time.
Did a search on the song and promotional music last night. I really don't see what all the fuss is about, its not something I would listen to more than once.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 12 Aug 2010 @ 7:20am

Re:
It is. Which is why you don't need permission, you just need a high-priced lawyer and lots of cash.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 12 Aug 2010 @ 7:24am

Re: That's Odd...
The actual creators never have anything to do with the takedowns. Often enough they are big fans of the parodies, but are powerless to stop the label/whoever owns the rights to the recordings from issuing takedowns. Such was the case with the Downfall Hitler re-captionings, which were praised by nearly everyone involved in the movie but were aggressively targeted by the studio.
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Griff (profile), 13 Aug 2010 @ 9:58am

Re: Re: That's Odd...
Turns out it was the writers (inc JayZ), not the label, that took it down.

The spoof writers wanted to release it as a charity single and the writers objected.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 16 Aug 2010 @ 7:24am

Re: Re: Re: That's Odd...
Hmm... okay, that *is* interesting. Source? (I'm not doubting you I just want to read more)
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