Any musician should be legally allowed to rip-off any musician
A couple cases of musical plagiarism in the Finnish media lately, both are “David vs. Goliath” situations. First we have superstar Timbaland ripping off a song by demo artist Janne Suni AKA Tempest. Then we have Finnish singer Katra and producer Risto Asikainen accused of ripping off the song “Jillian” by superstar Dutch metal band Within Temptation.
In the first scenario a wealthy superstar rips off the little-known artist and nothing happens - the wealthy superstar can rip-off whatever he wants, the little-known artist doesn’t have the money to fight the case. In the second scenario the tables are turned, the little-known artist gets accused of ripping off the wealthy superstar - an “expert panel” is quickly formed to see if it’s plagiarism, and as it turns out, it’s not.
So here’s how the current copyright/plagiarism legislation seems to work - Goliath can rip off David anytime he wants without any repercussions. But if Goliath even *thinks* that David is ripping him off, a serious investigation ensues.
So here’s my suggestion - Any musician should be legally allowed to rip-off any musician, leave it up to the internet to discover these plagiarisms then publicly ostracize the true thief. Cause at the moment, the wealthy superstar can plagiarize, but the poor-nobody can’t. So this would simply level the playing field and allow everyone to do it.
Katra’s drummer was in the “expert panel.”
Comment by truth — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Hih. Hilarious. Not only is justice blind, but it’s deaf too.
Comment by FinnFreak — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 11:54 am
Within Temptation are “wealthy superstars?”
Comment by RAVE THE DAVE — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
“…but it’s deaf too.”
And what it would be, if Katra’s bass player was also in the panel…
Comment by Antti (the redneck one) — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
In the Katra/WT case, it was everyone who wasn’t WT who was bitching. Horrible example.
Comment by gopha — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
Dear me, Phil - you are such a Bolshevik when it comes to intellectual property. I wouldn’t trust this society to your greedy, expropriationist hands!
Comment by mjr — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 12:45 pm
“an “expert panel†is quickly formed to see if it’s plagiarism, and as it turns out, it’s not.”
That panel was there only to decide if the song was going to continue in the race. Of course they had to say it’s not a copy. That was to be expected.
The plagiarism case would only be solved if the composer of Jillian sued Asikainen. And I would love to see that.
Comment by kervÃ¥ — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere:
“Carl Orff (Carmina Burana) influences” my ass..!
Comment by FinnFreak — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
In true welfare state government should pay your legal costs also abroad if you can’t afford them. It’s strange situation in the globalizing world when people can break your right from other side of the border and there is noting you can do.
Comment by Anonymous — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 5:56 pm
Phil,
Since you don’t seem to be a great fan of the concept of intellectual property, do you think it’s OK to rip off Nokia’s specs and manufacture cheapo clones of their products?
Comment by Freeridin' Franklin — Thu, Feb 1st, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Phil—
I don’t mean to be picky, but unless he’s actually been found guilty, your second sentence might be considered defamation, legally speaking. You probably have to say “In my opinion…” or “Allegedly….” to avoid making an assertion. We can’t actually prove that he ripped it off.
With that said, Timbanigga betta give it back!
Comment by Kristian (in Espoo) — Fri, Feb 2nd, 2007 @ 1:38 pm
It is rip off. Even if you are not rich enough to prove it in court.
in-depth articles
Chris Abbott (C64Audio.com)
http://www.c64audio.com/timbaland.php
eDome (fi+en)
http://plaza.fi/harrastukset/edome/artikkelit/yleiset/yhdysvaltalaistuottaja-polli-suomalaismuusikolta
Comment by anon — Fri, Feb 2nd, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
Finally feedback (and confession) from Timbaland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTvY3wZrHrQ
Timbaland Question (parody of the interview):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr6OPnWgywU
Better comparison of the songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JjPFd7Jr8
Comment by Anonymous — Wed, Feb 14th, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
If you are a fan of chip-music and rap scene you might want give try for this:
01_Dubmood_&_Zabutom-Grandmaster_Flash_&_The_Furious_Five_-_The_Message_(chiphop_mix).mp3
Comment by Anonymous — Sun, Feb 18th, 2007 @ 11:29 pm