(Geez I’m a flake lately. Totally forgot I’d posted about this already. I have deleted the older post. This one has more information, and a potential action item.)
Kind of ironic that plagiarism is the subject of the week in the class I’m teaching.
Years ago, Jonathan Coulton, an indie musician who has plenty of fans in our household, (took a moment out of his busy schedule to give Daughter a big hug and pose for a pic with her at Ohayocon once!) released a soft rock version of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”. He got the proper permissions and paid the proper royalties.
Last week, Fox’s show Glee featured the same song on their episode Sadie Hawkins Day. Contacted, did paperwork, and made financial arrangements with Mix. But USED Coulton’s unique mix. No acknowledgement in the credits, no payment to Coulton, and they didn’t ask permission.
Some muckety-muck on the Fox/Glee end contacted Coulton to tell him that they were on solid legal ground, and besides, Coulton should be thankful for the exposure this is giving him. Except, without publicly crediting him, how, precisely, can that be called “exposure”?
Here is the post I wrote, and here’s a link to Jonathan Coulton’s web site.
Kind of wiped out right lately, but if I can manage it, I’ll add a bit more explanation and links to some of the better articles I’ve seen on this matter. For starters…
Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement
Copyright should protect artists like Jonathan Coulton, not Glee & Fox
Jonathan Coulton Explains How Glee Ripped Off His Cover Song — And Why He’s Not Alone
Note that last line–proceeds go to charity. And the more people buy Jonathan Coulton’s version of Baby Got Back on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon MP3, the more REAL exposure this talented indie musician will receive.
From JoCo’s web site
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/
This was posted on January 26. Loathe as I am to include such a long quote, it tells you what you need to know, and I think gives a good peek into what Coulton’s motivations here. He COULD have an “angry mob” at the ready, but he’s trying to do something positive.
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I’ve released this track as a single – it should be on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play eventually if it’s not already. It’s a cover of Glee’s cover of my cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s song, which is to say it’s EXACTLY THE SAME as my original version. I’m releasing this under the same Harry Fox license I used for the 2005 release, so Mix will get all the royalties due to him. I’ll donate the proceeds from all sales that happen between now and the end of February to two charities: The VH1 Save the Music Foundation, and The It Gets Better Project. (fine print: iTunes will get their cut first of course, then I’ll deduct enough to cover my licensing fees, and split the rest between the two. iTunes sometimes takes a long time to report sales, sometimes even a couple of months, so I won’t be able to do the math and make the donation until I have the numbers. But I’ll let you know when I’ve gotten the amount and made the donation.)
I’ve been reading your tweets and posts and I’m truly grateful for your support – honestly, this has been a very stressful time, and it means so much to see how many of you are behind me. I’ve been trying to figure out a positive way to channel all this energy. I haven’t asked you guys to take any specific action throughout this thing, but now I am asking: buy the track, give it some stars, leave a comment (please be civil), and tell everyone you can. Call it a form of protest, awareness raising, viral PR hackitude, whatever you like. I don’t know how big this will get, but there’s a potential to make a lot of noise this way – imagine if this thing charts! And failing that, we will create some real world impact by raising a lot of money for two great causes that are directly related to the Glee brand. There’s your win-win.
Maybe this is something that the Glee people would like to give some EXPOSURE. Though, in order to do that they’d have to make some kind of public acknowledgement that I exist. We’ll see! Maybe they’ll even want to match the gesture, and donate all their February proceeds for their version too!
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I have never watched Glee. I don’t get the appeal.
It just rubs me the wrong way when megacorps think they can do whatever they please. Bummed that I have gotten so little traction by posting about this, but maybe I’ve lost my touch or something.
Too busy living life, trying not to “drown” in it. Not easy on low/unpredictable income and with a special needs adult living in our home. Progress on that front is going WAY too slowly.
I keep thinking that there has to be more to life than this. Being part of something bigger. Making a difference as part of a larger group.
But, whatever.
I’m almost 50 and starting to feel it…