Friday, November 29, 2013

Goldieblox's Argument is Juuuuuust Right

I'm sure you've heard that Goldieblox filed a declaratory judgment suit against the Beastie Boys because the Beasties sent them a letter in which they assert that this video infringes their copyright on their song "Girls":



You've also probably read various ill-informed articles about this case. Without calling any particular authors to task I'd like to make a few points as a neutral observer.

First, many people have said things like "It's bullshit that Goldieblox sued the Beasties when it's Goldieblox that's doing the copying." In fact, the Beastie Boys had the same gripe in their open letter to Goldieblox.

Declaratory judgment actions are perfectly legitimate and they happen in the IP space all the time. Like when Robin Thicke filed a declaratory judgment against Marvin Gaye's estate. People do this because they have been threatened with a lawsuit and they don't want to be sued in an unfavorable jurisdiction. If you want to learn more about the standard, read this.

Second, many people think that the Beastie Boys should win because they don't license their music for use in advertisements based on a request in MCA's will. While I respect that position, MCA's will doesn't override our copyright laws.

About 20 years ago, Roy Orbison sued Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew alleging that Campbell's song "Pretty Woman" infringed Orbison's copyright to his song "Oh, Pretty Woman". Here's the 2 Live Crew song:



And the Orbison song:



You can clearly hear strands of Orbison's music in Campbell's song, and Campbell definitely built his lyrics around Orbison's.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court and Campbell won. The Supreme Court said this was a parody of Orbison's song and thus constituted "fair use" under 17 USC 107, even though Campbell's lyrics were offensive.

The Beastie Boys' case is almost perfectly analogous. In fact, unlike Campbell's parody, Goldieblox took the Beastie's misogynistic song and turned it into something feminist. This looks like fair use to me under the Orbison/Campbell case.

Finally, if anyone should be pissed off about all of this it's Bo Diddley. But if he went after the Beasties I'm sure they would claim fair use ... otherwise they'd be in a world of financial hurt for their uncleared samples on Licensed to Ill alone.

The easiest way for this situation to resolve itself is for the court to find a lack of standing in the declaratory judgment suit (which may be easy to do depending on the content of the Beastie Boys' first letter to Goldieblox). Then Goldieblox should pull the video and make a donation in MCA's name to a charity that helps girls. The amount should be a value both sides agree to, probably based on some form of statutory damages.

You can call me Solomon from now on.

29 comments:

rob said...

this post may not get the views its deserves on a holiday friday, but we'll make it up to zman during gheorghemas.

rob said...

i think mike tomlin was 100% intentional in his actions yesterday. and i'm okay with it. he'll probably get fined, and that's okay, too. you'd all want your coach to do exactly the same thing. except mark, who'd want his coach to get dumptrucked by the returned and knocked out for the rest of the season.

rob said...

returned, returner. they're just words.

Mark said...

Rob's right, I'm totally down with Greg Schiano getting run over by a kick returner.

I enjoyed Zman's post. The 2 Live Crew version of Pretty Woman was a staple of my late elementary school years. I took great pleasure in the Bald Headed Woman section of said song. "Girl your hair won't grow. You got a teenie weenie Afro."

rob said...

black friday sale on caa hoops tournament tickets. no lines.

zman said...

Note that the SCOTUS cas caption includes "aka Luke Skywalker." It's the little things that make life entertaining.

zman said...

Nadal and Federer on now! It's like Christmas came early, pre recorded from Rome.

TR said...

Either I'm an idiot, or Duke-Zona is not on TV. Or both.

TR said...

Ohhhh. Not on until 6:59 PM.

Who the fuck is Dick?

TR said...

Did not know this (or much) about Arizona coach Sean Miller:

He developed considerable ball handling skills and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson when he was fourteen years old. His ball handling skills were such that he was featured in the 1979 movie, "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," starring basketball star Julius Erving.

zman said...

No one ever talks about their shaft handling skills.

Mark said...

ESPN randomly shows that Sean Miller clip. He used to perform at halftime of Pitt games as a kid.

Arizona-Duke is quite entertaining. Have to put it on the second TV now since Florida-FSU has tipped.

Mark said...

One of my favorite random things about CBB is when a player ends up being much better than the school/level he was recruited to so he ends up transferring to a higher profile program. Arizona PG TJ McConnell is an example of this. Started at PG at Duquesne for two years. Transferred and now starting at PG for Arizona.

Clarence said...

I think Luther's Skyywalker name has two Y's. Y'know, so he doesn't get sued by the real one.

I'll confess to having loved the 2LC Move Somethin' album in college (and beyond). Beyond the shock value, it was hilarious and good music. Lately, older with two daughters, I have trouble with the misogyny, even at its parody level.

The Sinatra Group SNL skit from the 90's -- featuring Chris Rock as Luther Campbell -- was one of the decade's highlights.

zman said...

Luke Skywalker is real?

Mark said...

He did get sued for going by Luke Skywalker, Clarence. Many, many years ago. Since then he just goes by Uncle Luke or Luther Campbell.

rob said...

just got waited on by the girl who played the title character in 'small wonder'. pretty sure, anyway. she's fantastic, made of plastic.

Mark said...

I don't give a fuck about turkey on Thanksgiving. Using it for turkey sandwiches for the next three days though. Yeeeeeeees.

Mark said...

So Oregon just completely stopped giving a fuck after they lost to Stanford, huh?

Mark said...

Florida beats FSU in the only athletic contest between the two schools this weekend.

Mark said...

Oregon-Oregon State has been fantastic so far. A minute to go. Oregon down 5. Ball on the OSU 24.

Mark said...

If you didn't see it live, you should go back and see how Russell Westbrook ended the OKC-GSW game.

Mark said...

I can't stop laughing. https://vine.co/v/hPJt3M15veg

Clarence said...

Evenin', Gheorghies. No blog for old men.

Danimal said...

Sean Miller was also featured on That's Incredible. Anyone else remember that? Fran Tarkenton, John Davidson and Cathy Lee Crosby? That was good t.v.

rob said...

that okc/gsw game looked bananas. where do i sign mark's petition for a 21-game postseason series between those two teams?

rob said...

two assists, two personal fouls for quinn mcdowell in springfield's 91-88 lost last night. got 16 minutes of action, took 3 shots, missed them all.

zman said...

Wasn't she in Coming to America?

T.J. said...

picks post is up