NirGaga angers cash-strapped EMI
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- Things are getting getting tougher for EMI, the deeply troubled member of the Big 4 music cartel [word used advisedly] that’s currently being sued for price-fixing.
Now EMI has sent a cease & desist letter to DJ Lobsterdust and Bootie SF regarding “NirGaga,” a mashup combining Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”, says EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) lawyer Fred von Lohmann, going on >>>
The song had appeared in Bootie SF’s “best of 2009″ compilation (and got a thumbs up from the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog), but now has been removed.
For now, you can still find it online, so you can listen and reach your own fair use conclusions. The song is obviously transformative, and it’s hard to imagine it as a substitute for the originals.
As far as we’ve been able to tell, mashups rarely draw the attention of record label lawyers.
Of course, EMI was involved in efforts to block the viral distribution of Dangermouse’s now legendary Grey Album. And EMI used the DMCA in 2008 to censor video mashups commenting on the lawsuit between Joe Satriani and Coldplay.
“But,” says von Lohmann, “bringing the lawyers to bear against garden-variety mashups is something else again”, adding:
“Is this the beginning of a general crackdown on mashups by EMI, or, we hope, just a misguided one-off?”
Probably the former. After all, it’s obviously short of cash and maybe it hopes damages from DJ Lobsterdust and Bootie SF will be sufficient to ease its financial pain.
It spent more than a million dollars on UK taxi fares in 2007, only slightly less than the money spent by three investment banks, with 8-10 times more staff than EMI Music, said p2pnet, going on:
“In its annual review for the year ended March 31, 2008, produced by Lord Birt — all 101 pages of it — EMI Group reports a loss of $1.2 billion (£757,000,000) , singling out the “continuing underperformance from EMI Music.”
“The year before, the loss was a mere $454.5 million (£287,000,000).”
(Cheers, DA)
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
deeply troubled – Can Santa save EMI?, December 22, 2009
sued for price-fixing – Big Music in price fixing lawsuit. Again, January 14, 2010
EFF – EMI Attacks NirGaga Mashup, January 13, 2010
p2pnet – EMI, still ’spending like a drunken sailor’, November 11, 2009
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January 14th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I couldn’t help noticing how well the 2 songs synced, without pulling off any tricks, or even changing the speed of either track!
January 14th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
” Probably the former. After all, it’s obviously short of cash and maybe it hopes damages from DJ Lobsterdust and Bootie SF will be sufficient to ease its financial pain. ”
hee hee.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
And them they were 3 then 2 them 1 them zero. Rebuild!
January 18th, 2010 at 3:00 am
EMI needs to change it’s business model in order to keep up with today’s technology and consumer demands.