Band Whose Label Threatened Larry Lessig Comes Out Strongly In Favor Of Fair Use
from the good-for-them dept
In the wake of Liberation Music settling with Larry Lessig over its direct threat to sue him for clear fair use, the band whose music was involved in the dispute, Phoenix, has put out a strong statement in favor of fair use. Not only have they posted Lessig's original video to their own blog, but they note that they did not at all approve of the way the label acted. Furthermore, they support copyright reform that would better protect fair use, and encourage people to build on their music to get "inspired."We Support Fair Use of Our Music!Nicely said. If only the label they contractually worked with to manage the band's own copyright interests had recognized that.
We were upset to find out that a lecture by professor Lawrence Lessig titled 'Open' was removed from YouTube without review, under the mistaken belief that it infringed our copyright interests.
This lecture about fair-use included -as examples- bits of spontaneous fan videos using our song Lisztomania.
Not only do we welcome the illustrative use of our music for educational purposes, but, more broadly, we encourage people getting inspired and making their own versions of our songs and videos and posting the result online.
One of the great beauties of the digital era is to liberate spontaneous creativity - it might be a chaotic space of free association but the contemporary experience of digital re-mediation is enormously liberating.
We don't feel the least alienated by this; appropriation and recontextualization is a long-standing behavior that has just been made easier and more visible by the ubiquity of the internet.
In a few words: we absolutely support fair use of our music, and we can only encourage a new copyright policy that protects fair use as much as every creators' legitimate interests.
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Filed Under: copyright, dmca, fair use, larry lessig, phoenix
Companies: liberation music
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Re:
Still, that said, even if it is just damage control, they do seem to be trying pretty hard, making it absolutely clear that they object to such actions by the label, something that will hopefully keep the label from pulling something like this again, and showing quite strong support for remixes and fair use in general.
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"Not only do we welcome the illustrative use of our music for educational purposes, but, more broadly, we encourage people getting inspired and making their own versions of our songs and videos and posting the result online."
I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens here as it doesn't sound like they are in control of the copyrights.
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Just Listened
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Put up or shut up
I'm one of them. So I have an idea to have these people bring out a strong statement in regards to copyright...
Release your works to the public domain. Show us and your label how important copyright is to you. You tried to charge a professor of law with copyright infringement as if he was a petty criminal. For showing off YOUR work. I think that the best punishment that fits this allegation would be to remove all shadow of a doubt that the public should lay claim to this dying.
CC-SA
Or a public domain license. It's not that hard. Put up exactly what you would have "lost" and show us your "loss".
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Re: Put up or shut up
Argh!
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Re: Put up or shut up
That said, it's entirely possible that they couldn't, it depends on whether they're bound by a 'traditional' 'all your songs belong to us' type contract, or if they managed to get a more fair contract written up when they signed to their label.
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Re: Put up or shut up
How about they just stop doing business with the label? Oh wait, the label isn't their business partner.
Huh. Maybe they should just go on the run from their pimps.
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Re: Put up or shut up
They're on a label, which means they likely don't hold the copyright to their songs any more. So, that option is out.
It's also a good guess as to why they didn't say anything sooner. If they would have said anything like that, especially while litigation was ongoing, the label would have come down on them like a ton of bricks.
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Re: Re: Put up or shut up
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Re: Re: Re: Put up or shut up
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On the other hand, washed-up has-beens like Chaim Witz (AKA Gene Simmons) don't care how many fans they alienate by showing their greed and preaching scorched-earth copyright enforcement, when they know that their glory days are long behind them and they have nothing to lose.
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Re:
/Poe
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'removed from YouTube without review'
not only does it at least imply that YouTube didn't check first rather, it just removed, as is the usual case, playing right into the open, greedy little mits of the entertainment industries, it also implies that a fairer system is required. that would be a system where checks have to first be made to reveal infringement before acting to close or remove and also that politicians need to get in on the act, doing something constructive that allows for checks. how it is atm, the removal takes place first. that's crazy! but even more crazy is the lack of punishment when the C&D is abused. that needs change. i'm surprised why some like Senator Wyden hasn't had a go at this. it's right up his alley!
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I learned a new word today!
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