Monday, November 25, 2013
Girls Against Boys: What's Wrong With the (Latest) Beastie Boys Lawsuit
Electronic Frontier Foundation: “Oh no!” said the email that went round the EFF office on Friday. Could it be true that the Beastie Boys had unleashed the legal hounds to shut down a parody ad that uses the group's classic misogynistic ditty, “Girls”? Surely not. As remix pioneers, the Beastie Boys are the veterans of many legal battles against copyright maximalists. The Beastie Boys aren’t copyright bullies, they fight those bullies. Right?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I understand the principle upon which the Beastie Boys are basing their objections to the use of their music, but they are being unnecessarily selfish and self-obsessed. GoldieBlox is using the song in a very original way, for a great form of advertising. If anything, the Beastie Boys should be flattered that their song is being used for a commercial They created a catchy enough tune that advertising agents believe everyone will recognize it, and they will benefit publicity-wise from a remix of their song being cast back into the public eye. This is sadly often what happens when people get a taste of fame and fortune: they think they own everything and consider themselves better than and above others, which is absolutely ridiculous and selfishly unnecessary.
I agree with Emma on a lot of points. While I see that having a copyrighted song may mean you get to decide whether the song is used at all, I think in this instance it is unfair to pursue a trial with GoldieBlox. Judging from the article it sounds clear that the intent of the song was clearly changed and the fact that GoldieBlox is highlighting the fact that the song is sexist to begin with, makes their use of the song a parody. Part of me wonders if perhaps the Beastie Boys don't want anyone calling attention to the fact that their song was sexist and discriminatory; this pursuit sure seems like a convenient way to try to draw attention from this fact.
While I understand the author's explanation of the Fair Use Act, and the way that GoldieBlox is probably operating under that act and not committing any copyright infringements, I can't help but see the Beastie Boys' side of the argument. I believe that they should be able to say that their music can't be used in advertisements, and that their wishes should be respected. The reason the GoldieBlox version of the song is successful and reaches audiences is because it's playing on the original version of the song and the public's knowledge of it. For that, I think, GoldieBlox owes something to the Beastie Boys. They at least shouldn't sue them. I read another article saying that the nature of the legal contact GoldieBlox received from the Beastie Boys' legal representation was not extremely threatening or even demanding, and that GoldieBlox just turned around and sued them, when the Beastie Boys were not trying to do the same to GoldieBlox. I wish I knew the truth, because it would certainly color my overall opinion on the situation. That being said, if GoldieBlox is operating under Fair Use, then great, but maybe I don't agree with all of the tenants of the Fair Use Act. I believe that the Beastie Boys should be able to control whether or not their music (or some version of it) is used in advertisements.
I'm with Shannon on this one. Yes it's a great ad, and it's fro a good cause. But I don't think that gives GoldieBlox the right to use copyrighted material without permission from the authors. The article essentially makes the case that because the toy company are good guys making the world a better place, they can bypass laws and do whatever pleases them. The thing is, that's now how laws work (or at least not how they're supposed to work). I don't even really see how this can be controversial, since it's a clear copyright breach and there is no definitive answer about whether or not this falls under fair use. Anyways, GoldieBlox took the video off the web a few days ago and published an open letter in which they apologized for the whole deal. Essentially, one big misunderstanding. And an awesome Rube Goldberg machine.
I disagree with the argument that just because the song was used for an advertisement that is trying to improve the world, that gives the company the right to essentially steal the song. I'm no expert on copyright/fair use law, but artists deserve to have control over their work, at least until the copyright expires. The Beastie Boys wrote the song- they have a right to chose how it is used. Especially since they have always had a stated policy of not allowing their songs to be used in advertisement, so the company should have known before they used it that the band would not agree to let them use the song. There are plenty of sexist songs out there that could have been used in the advertisement- there was no need to steal an artist's work without their permission, and that is what this company did.
I have to side with the Beastie Boys on this one. Especially after reading their open letter to GoldieBlox.
"Like many of the millions of people who have seen your toy commercial “GoldieBlox, Rube Goldberg & the Beastie Boys,” we were very impressed by the creativity and the message behind your ad. We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.
As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads. When we tried to simply ask how and why our song “Girls” had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US."
The commercial is a great one with a powerful message and GoldieBlox could entirely be within their rights to have done what they did, but it seems to me that they are using this lawsuit as a way to increase their clout in the world. I don't know how this will play out in the courts but I've lost respect for GoldieBlox in their reaction to the whole situation.
I did a quick google search and found GoldieBlox's response letter to the Beastie Boys:
http://blog.goldieblox.com/2013/11/our-letter-to-the-beastie-boys/
And I do respect them a little bit more for making this move, "Since actions speak louder than words, we have already removed the song from our video. In addition, we are ready to stop the lawsuit as long as this means we will no longer be under threat from your legal team.
We don’t want to spend our time fighting legal battles. We want to inspire the next generation. We want to be good role models. And we want to be your friends."
Hopefully this can be the end of this situation that I don't think either party really wants to be involved in.
I can't blame GoldieBlox for pre-emptively filing suit. The Beastie Boys empire is huge, and as a relatively small business, any letter from a lawyer is threatening. I am a little torn as to on whose side I fall with this. On one hand, I usually favor liberal fair use laws, but GoldieBlox is not as altruistic as they seem. They are a business, and they made that ad specifically to sell their product. This scandal has served them well too. Before this, only a very small section of the population had heard of them, and now, even a bunch of college kids are sitting here talking about it on a blog. I think they should pull the ad, enjoy their Christmas sales jump, and everyone can go back to normal, no lawsuit necessary.
I have to completely disagree with Emma's statement. It is their song and they should have every right to not want it in a commercial, whether or not it benefits them in any way. They have clearly stated from the beginning that they don't want their songs used in commercials and, to be fair, that makes total sense. Often times people can find that degrading to their music and if you're as famous as the Beastie Boys, I'm sure it's ok to feel that way. But nonetheless, it' their music and they should be able to say no to having their songs used in commercials if they don't want that. I can see why GoldieBlox could be upset about this, but the fact is they should've also contacted the Beastie Boys asking for permission to use the tune of the song even if they changed up the lyrics because the Beastie Boys still own the song, no matter what their reaction to the request is. I find the Beastie Boys to be right in this situation and it's upsetting to see that copyright laws may not work in their favor.
Post a Comment