Writers Of 'Back Pockets On The Floor' Claim 'Pants On The Ground' Ripped Them Off...

from the copyright-gone-mad dept

Just start shaking your head now, because your level of disbelief should only increase as this post goes on. We recently wrote about how "General" Larry Platt, the latest YouTube viral sensation for his American Idol appearance with the song "Pants On The Ground" was lawyering up, as he felt that he wasn't getting money he deserved from everyone talking about and "covering" his song. Of course, he failed to register the copyright, so his remedies were pretty limited. We suggested that he focus on actually releasing the song himself and looking to capitalize on it in other ways... and it looks like he's doing just that. But even that is mired in claims of copyright infringement. And... then there's an argument making the rounds that Platt himself "ripped off" the song that made him famous from someone else, but we'll get to that at the end.

First, Rose M. Welch points us to the news that after recording an official version in the studio, Platt was angry to find out that his ex-manager was distributing the recording without Platt's permission. The ex-manager says he doesn't need Larry's permission because "it's 'promotional' and not for profit." That's an interesting interpretation of copyright law.

But, much more amusing is that at the bottom of that article, it supposedly links to the "official version" of the video, but if you click on it to play, it pops up a message saying: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by FD Entertainment LLC." Wait, but I thought it was the "official" version. Yay for dueling copyright claims: Oh, but that's not all... You see, Rose also points us to the news that a group called The Green Brothers from Highland Michigan are claiming that Larry Platt ripped off their own song called "Back Pockets On The Floor," which was recorded (and copyrighted) in 1996. You can see the video for that song here: And compare it to the original "Pants On The Ground" performance on American Idol: Stylistically, they're equally ridiculously awful, and hit on similar themes... but there doesn't seem to be any actual copyright infringement. But.... wow. There are two songs like that? Yikes.

Filed Under: back pockets on the floor, copyright, larry platt, music, pants on the ground

'Pants On The Ground' Guy Lawyers Up, Looks For Money From The Sky

from the looking-up dept

If you've been living under a pop-cultural rock the past couple of weeks, you might have missed the "Pants on the Ground" meme, birthed on American Idol, that's been going around. Basically, there was some Idol contestant, "General" Larry Platt who performed a song he "wrote" himself called "Pants on the Ground." It's awful in that "wow, this is going to be an internet meme" kind of way... and the Idol crew milked it for all it was worth. Not only are lots of people recording their own versions of it, Platt is appearing everywhere. However, this is a "mine, mine, mine" society, and Rose M. Welch alerts us to the news that Platt is complaining that he hasn't received a dime from everyone using the song, and he's lawyering up to try to fix that.

How ridiculous is this? The guy just got a ton of publicity and has made his name and his song known around the world. You don't cash in by going back and demanding cash -- you cash in by doing something new for money. He shouldn't be hiring a lawyer, but a business manager. If people had to pay for every use of his song originally, no one would even know who he is.

Separately, the link above claims that "Platt never copyrighted the song," but that's not right. Platt automatically gets a copyright on the song once it's been set in fixed form in some manner. So if he wrote it down somewhere or recorded it or something, he has the copyright. What they probably mean is that he didn't register the copyright, which would limit his ability to do anything about it. Plus, I would imagine that the lawyers at Fox and American Idol made sure he signed over all sorts of rights before performing that song on the air....

Filed Under: american idol, copyright, larry platt, meme, pants on the ground