One Nation Under a Court Order

January 6, 2013 7:36 PM

What do the songs The Electric Spanking of War Babies, Uncle Jam, Hardcore Jollies and One Nation Under a Groove all have in common? Well, sure, they were all written (with a collaborator here and there) by Mr. George Clinton. But that's not all they have in common. As of now, the copyright in these booty-shaker workouts does not belong to the legendary P. Funk mastermind, but rather to the law firm of Hendricks and Lewis. Funk Classics Seized to Pay Off $1 Million Debt.
posted by flapjax at midnite (34 comments total)

WARNING: The contense of this FPP may permanently affect the way you move that thang.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:51 PM on January 6 [3 favorites]

Did not have the title I expected: Court Orders "Give Up the Funk".
posted by benito.strauss at 7:59 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

Poor George - All Your Goodies Are Gone, lost to a bunch of Maggot Brains grubbing after 1.5 million Funky Dollar Bills.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:03 PM on January 6 [5 favorites]

Free your mind -- your assets will follow.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:03 PM on January 6 [14 favorites]

I like the way this thread is going!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:05 PM on January 6

In what I'm sure is completely unrelated news, Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk just made partner at Hendricks and Lewis.
posted by the painkiller at 8:09 PM on January 6 [10 favorites]

No resolution has been reached, however, in the case of Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome.
posted by box at 8:18 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

Man, jokes aside (and don't get me wrong, the jokes have been great thus far), this makes me really sad. Some of these were Funkadelic tunes, and they do not play well with car commercials or whatever.

I almost want to dare some megacorp to use "The Electric Spanking of War Babies" in a commercial, except that I know they'll actually find a way to use it and ruin it.

Please, please, PLEASE just don't fuck with "Groovallegiance"...
posted by rollbiz at 8:20 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

When Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Lee Lewis decided to collaborate, and decided to do it by forming a law firm together, I knew it would be bad for music.

Also, it's spelled "Jimmy", Mr. Hendricks.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:20 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

Also it's spelled "P-Funk", if i recall correctly.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 PM on January 6

I am afraid of the ads that could be made from One Nation Under a Groove.
posted by immlass at 8:29 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

I guess we might as well pay attention to high finance.
posted by uosuaq at 8:34 PM on January 6

Thank gawd they didn't get their lecherous, litigious claws on Atomic Dog...
posted by jim in austin at 8:38 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

Paint the red ink black.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:38 PM on January 6

Although way at the end of the article are the reassuring words: According to the ruling, H&L can sell or use the music however it wants -- with all money going toward paying back the original judgment. Once that's paid off, the copyrights go back to Clinton

So it sounds like this is more like a convoluted wage garnishing rather than an outright expropriation.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 8:44 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

Free your mind -- your assets will follow.

It's really hard to believe that this entire story wasn't invented just to enable that beautiful line. Thank you.
posted by How the runs scored at 8:49 PM on January 6

Piracy is funky now!
posted by schyler523 at 8:49 PM on January 6 [1 favorite]

When you base your life on credit
And your loving days are done
Checks you signed with love and kisses
Later come back signed "insufficient funds"
posted by Lorin at 8:56 PM on January 6 [4 favorites]

Not trying to make a political statement about the above decision, it's just a badass song with an appropriate sounding verse.
posted by Lorin at 8:58 PM on January 6

It's worth taking a look at the homepage of the law firm, which steps a little gingerly beyond the usual stuffy staid boring law firm Corporate Generic 2.0 design. Quoting from the page:

"If the Internet is the Wild West, then Hendricks and Lewis is my sheriff. They were flexible and strong and they knew how to protect my brand." -- Charlie Schmidt, Multimedia Artist, Designer, Actor, Character, and Creator of the "Keyboard Cat."
posted by blucevalo at 9:50 PM on January 6

If the Internet is the Wild West, then Hendricks and Lewis is my sheriff. They were flexible and strong and they knew how to protect my brand.

Bob Marley was advised to use the law firm of Hendricks & Lewis, but he shot that down.
posted by twoleftfeet at 9:56 PM on January 6 [2 favorites]

And he did not kill the deputy.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:02 PM on January 6

Oh no.

Read it in the news.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:11 PM on January 6

Wait a minute. I was sure that he was a Wizard of Finance.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 10:22 PM on January 6

Have you had your 19th nervous breakdown? Do you feel that you don't like Mondays? Do you want to shoot the whole day down? Have you been asking yourself "psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est"?

You may be suffering from a music related injury.

We here at the at the law offices of Hendricks & Lewis have years of experience in litigating music injuries. We may be able to help you. If money is what you want, call 867-5309 today.
posted by twoleftfeet at 10:44 PM on January 6 [8 favorites]

Dirty deeds, done on 30% contingency.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:58 AM on January 7 [3 favorites]

I'm surprised that George Clinton is having money issues. I always figured he could fund the construction of an actual mothership if he called in all the sampling royalties he's owed from... wait, who was the rapper that sampled P-Funk? Oh wait, it was all of them.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:32 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

Well, shit. Goddamn.
posted by steambadger at 8:38 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

This is what the end of America looks like. Copyright law becomes so onerous and cash so scarce that law firms and megacorporations own the entire cultural foundation.
posted by kaibutsu at 9:13 AM on January 7 [1 favorite]

psychoalphadiscobetabioaquaduedilligence
posted by rouftop at 9:43 AM on January 7

Uther Bentrazor:
"wait, who was the rapper that sampled P-Funk? Oh wait, it was all of them."

Dear hip hop.
You OWE this man.
Open a Kickstarter or something.
posted by charred husk at 12:46 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]

This is what the end of America looks like. Copyright law becomes so onerous and cash so scarce that law firms and megacorporations own the entire cultural foundation.

If you'd read the article or even the earlier comments here you'd see that "[a]ccording to the ruling, H&L can sell or use the music however it wants -- with all money going toward paying back the original judgment. Once that's paid off, the copyrights go back to Clinton". They have the rights to the songs until they can earn back what they're owed, then the rights go back to Clinton.

Metafilter should be slightly better than reddit when it comes to hysterics over copyright, but this thread isn't building any confidence on that front.
posted by Sangermaine at 1:30 PM on January 7 [2 favorites]

Coming soon, for a limited time, at least until the royalties build up, Pepsi P-Funk.
posted by kaibutsu at 6:36 AM on January 8

Uther Bentrazor:
"wait, who was the rapper that sampled P-Funk? Oh wait, it was all of them."

Not exactly, but G-Funk was indisputably reliant on the P-Funk sound that Clinton helped develop. There are a couple of names that spring to mind as people who could maybe spare a percentage of their wealth and who it could be argued rose to fame on the tide of G-Funk. That the popularisation of hip hop took the path into 'gangsterism' rather than the 'conscious' politically aware styles that were promoted by PE, the native tongues movement, KRS-One etc is a matter for the history books now. Whether that was an organic development that just happened to align with the dominant power structures in society, or something more contrived is a matter for debate.
I am sure Jay Z, 50 Cent et al would argue that they are unique musical geniuses that got where they are today due to talent and hard work, but some might say that they benefited from a preexisting market for glorified violence and the pimpin' lifestyle and as such also owe a debt of gratitude to the roots of G-Funk.
posted by asok at 6:50 AM on January 8 [1 favorite]