Today, there’s a lot of talk about copyright infringement on the ‘net. Idolator reports that two alternative music magazines in Toronto went to war last week over whether or not Greg Gillis’ music, entirely comprised of samples- hundreds per awesomely genius song- is “fair use.” Then there’s BoingBoing founder Cory Doctorow, giving a dissertation on “why he copyfights,” claiming that culture itself will cease to exist if we don’t reform intellectual property law.
We here at Antiquiet have had our fair share of trouble and then some, but there’s one thing I’m fucking certain of. The new Hilary Duff video is hands-down, without a doubt, seriously infringing the shit out of some copyrights:
I think what pisses me off the most about this is that Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic claimed a co-writing credit on the track, for the music- which is nothing more than Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus; verse for verse, chorus for chorus. Even Hilary’s hook only changes one word from the original.
As shitty pop music goes, Hilary Duff is not as bad as most. Last year’s Dignity was possibly good enough for guilty pleasure behind closed (and soundproofed) doors. But this is as bad a track as the nature of the album it’s found on: a last minute cash-grab greatest hits compilation hitting stores today.
I’d still hit it.
I get annoyed when people just take an existing song and put a stupid dance beat underneath it call it “New”. Write your own songs. Blah. It’s catchy too, which bugs me even more because it’ll be in my head for the next few hours. Thanks Antiquiet!
In no way – what-so-ever – would this be released by anyone involved in it’s production with the intention of taking any ‘original’ credit for it’s creation. There’s somewhere, in the publishing docs, in the mechanical docs, percentage given to Depeche Mode – no doubt about it.
Sure it’s a piss poor pathetic excuse of songwriting on Duff’s or anyone involved in her’s part but never-the-less, it’s in no way ‘blatant copyright infringement’ – just stupidity to release something that 99.999% of the world does in their underwear in front of the mirror alone. .. . . yea, that too.
But… Depeche Mode are listed as being one of the writers of it. Confused.
Reminds me of the P!nk ‘u + ur hand’/Marty Emonds IP thing though.
Second that Junkyard.
seriously, fuck that stupid cunt, I don’t even like depeche mode, but have some fucking respect you worthless piece of trailer trash
This is not copyright infringement. The use of the melody and lyrics were authorized. It’s sort of like a cover, but it’s been reworked. We may not like her or her music, but legally this is on the up-and-up. Depeche Mode are getting the proepr credit and compensation.
I’ll avoid the obvious pot/kettle/black comparison, but this post is telling. It’s clear that there are different interpretations of copyright law. But in this case, unfortunately, your interpretation is incorrect.
This was one of my fav 80’s tracks WHY GOD WHY?! they changed the lyrics “reach out and touch faith” to “reach out and touch me” god no!!! why did depeche mode give them permission to do they’re song? it’s not like hillary duffs music career is flourishing. There goes the “I don’t need to use sex to sell my music” philosophy, her next album polka (if polka is trendy).
I’m still amazed that adults are even exposed to a song like this. Like, where do you hear it? The only time I even become aware of shit like this, or Katy Perry, or a new Britney video is on this website.
Tracy Chapman just put out a new album yesterday, and it’s the 20th anniversary of her first AMAZING fucking album, and we have a post about Hilary Duff? Is it any wonder why the music business sucks?! This is the shit that gets the attention.
He’s right. It’s our fault.
p.s. If I never fucking hear Fast Car again, I can die happy.
Shes still fuckable though. Thats a plus.
haha, we’ve got the tracy chapman album, it may or may not get a mention here. either way, nice to know we’re managing to be the primary source of exposure for artists as globally ubiquitous as katy perry, hilary duff, and britney spears. i’m not an avid tv watcher or fm radio listener, but it’s impossible to avoid this shit with even casual dabbling. and even if you’re only listening to sirius and watching the news, katy perry was on the howard stern show and the britney video debuted on 20/20.
anyway, back on topic-
fred, i hear you. technically, a crime has not been committed if depeche mode authorized the rip-off. and initially, my theory that this was infringement was somewhat tongue in cheek. the point i intended to make was that this is the shit that should be illegal. pot/kettle related implications fully intended. but with all that aside, when you get down to the constitutionality of ip laws, article 1 established the right of congress to pass laws “to promote the progress of science and useful arts.” in other words, copyright law is intended to encourage creativity. and when an “artist” can get a legitimate songwriting credit for just taking someone else’s song, note for note, i say it does the opposite, and slaps in the face the true intention of copyright law in the first place.
Right. So, if they are already “globally ubiquitous”, all over 20/20, etc. where is the need to cover them rather than all of the genuinely talented, interesting artists that aren’t already force fed through mainstream media? I know you’re a pretty active music fan, so I’m just always surprised when your music site is so focused on bullshit that can barely be considered music while so much good shit flies under the radar. Use your power for good!
fair point… we’re always more motivated by appreciation for a good band than hatred for a bad one. i feel like most of our articles lately have been positive. but if there are any bands/albums you think we should be checking out, falling in love with, and sharing with everyone, throw that shit our way to help make sure that we don’t miss it. just drop an email with submissions@antiquiet.com with a link, and we’ll check it out.
“Johnny Firecloud Says: If I never fucking hear Fast Car again, I can die happy.”
I’m gonna hack your phone and make it your ringtone. Mwhaha.
Seriously. Songs don’t get overplayed unless you listen to radio or some lame bullshit that we know overplays songs. It happens to be a great song.
“Fair point” my ass. We cover what we want. That’s why.
[...] Some new video with Hilary Duff (aka “Vapid Satan”, which I have just coined) This is Copyright Infringement, something our friends at Antiquiet know all about [Antiquiet] [...]
Sorry about your legal troubles, Skwerl. Hopefully you get to hear the final version of Chinese Democracy before potential lock up.
@Joseph Rose
I actually discovered this site several months back when i decided to type in an old URL for A Perfect Circle that I wondered about. I was quite surprised that there was a decent blog here talking about a few really good things that I was unaware of.
then came the GNR thing, and the traffic increased. as the traffic increased, some more mainstream people got mentioned. the more mainstream, it seemed the traffic increased (and i’m sure the editors can say this isn’t accurate). you cant fault the editors for wanting to feed traffic or jerk off their writing ego.
besides, the ratio of crap bubble gum bullshit here to good music worth mentioning is really not that bad. if anything, i think the editors could probably stop playing it so safe (with regards to choice of acts to cover) but they’re doing a decent job. it is a blog after all, and if skwerl wants to talk about some two-bit producer getting an undue writing credit for an arrangement he licensed for a Hilary Duff record, we all have the choice of just skipping the post entirely as soon as we see the bubblegum star’s face on the embedded video.
i have to disagree with Skwerl, though, in that it IS possible to avoid this bullshit with even ‘casual dabbling’. I manage to avoid this shit pretty well *except* when I visit here, though I do find most of the posts entertaining.
@AZB
Bands we’ve covered in the past week or two:
Electric Six
Far
Stereophonics
Q Tip
Scott Weiland
The Bronx
Donny Hathaway
The International Noise Conspiracy
Portugal The Man
You’re right, total mainstream whores. Playing it safe, for sure.
We’ve got some pretty diverse tastes and definitions of comedy here at Antiquiet, and we run with what motivates us. Simple as that. No need to complain and spin baseless business theory. There’s plenty of music sites out there.
You want us to cover so and so band nobody’s ever heard of that’s amazing and needs exposure? Like Skwerl said a few comments back – submissions@antiquiet.com is the best place for that. If the music’s awesome, we’ll devour it and pimp it full throttle right here, for your audiophyllic pleasure. Thanks in advance.
p.s. You don’t happen to be in Dark Disco Club, do you?
http://www.myspace.com/darkdiscoclub
@Firecloud
actually, i was sorta defending you guys, but ok I guess I’m complaining. might as well just shut off the comments (or delete them). offended much? as I said, I’m entertained by most of the posts here, irregardless of the individual artists’ street cred. I’ve genuinely found some good music here that I’d never heard of (Jack Conte and Far come to mind), that was the point I was trying to make. and if I have to suffer through a few posts about AC/DC, Metallica, Britney Spears, the VMAs, Miley Cyrus and Dragonforce so be it. it is your blog, you have varied tastes, no one was disputing that.
as for “There’s plenty of music sites out there”. Besides completely misunderstanding my post, now you’re telling me to fuck off too? awesome, way to treat a reader with a brain.
sorry, we’re prone to attitude problems around here. truth be told, we love you all and it makes our day when people enthusiastically agree with us that something is awesome (or awful) and pass it on to others.
also, for absolutely no reason whatsoever besides the fact that it’s a lot of good music in one spot, let me direct you to an old mix that i still like: http://www.antiquiet.com/features/mixtapes/2008/06/kim-jong-il-communication/
haha @ the inevitable DDC plug
Old video of Skwerl and I before we changed our names and got laid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFMn1InDTOU
I got your point just fine, AZ. Thanks for caring. We love you.
oh ok, i get it. i use a word that doesn’t exist so I’m a retard. fair enough.
kinda like the nervous retard asking the stupid questions in this video (and getting his ass handed to him by a couple of smartasses), eh?
http://www.antiquiet.com/interviews/2008/10/dan-le-sac-and-scroobius-pip-at-the-echo/
point taken. i’ll go somewhere else.
no no! that wasn’t meant as sarcasm. we appreciate your input, long as you can handle a bit of back and forth.
this is why we can’t have nice things!
Did Depeche Mode make Violator so other artists could violate the album by recording crappy covers?
welcome to amerika, the comment thread
I think we all just need to have a big group hug.
Jamelia used it for her “Beware of a dog” or somethin’ song earlier. My sister came to my room yesterday, while I was listening to Marilyn Manson’s version of Personal Jesus, she said that she knows the song, but doesn’t remember the title, then she heard the chorus and her expression’s changed, she said it’s not it, and it sucks, claiming she knows the ‘original’ song (not Depeche Mode, but Jamelia of course). Well, I suppose you can easily tell that music industry sucks, when 21 yr old person doesn’t know Personal Jesus, but some shitty profanation of it.
spinett, that’s the problem with sampling. you can get some very good things out of it (like hip hop) as much as some very poor appropriations (this track & that one that rhianna did). truthfully, i find the whole thing kind of frightening. i won’t say that sampling doesn’t have its place in art, but to me, it really seems like we’re seeing more and more of these types of thinly veiled appropriations as the years go by. i mean, this is really nothing more than a shitty cover that really doesn’t contribute anything culturally as far as being a real original creative work. and it’s really sad, because i think that in the end, it doesn’t really do anything to encourage people to actually create something real or honest.