Comments on: One Nation Under a Court Order

One Nation Under a Court Order

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:36:01 -0800

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.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:51:28 -0800

WARNING: The contense of this FPP may permanently affect the way you move that thang.

By: benito.strauss

benito.strauss — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 19:59:29 -0800

Did not have the title I expected: Court Orders "Give Up the Funk".

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:03:15 -0800

Poor George - All Your Goodies Are Gone, lost to a bunch of Maggot Brains grubbing after 1.5 million Funky Dollar Bills.

By: Herodios

Herodios — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:03:34 -0800

Free your mind -- your assets will follow.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:05:16 -0800

I like the way this thread is going!

By: the painkiller

the painkiller — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:09:52 -0800

In what I'm sure is completely unrelated news, Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk just made partner at Hendricks and Lewis.

By: box

box — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:18:20 -0800

No resolution has been reached, however, in the case of Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:20:30 -0800

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"...

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:20:38 -0800

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.

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:29:00 -0800

Also it's spelled "P-Funk", if i recall correctly.

By: immlass

immlass — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:29:13 -0800

I am afraid of the ads that could be made from One Nation Under a Groove.

By: uosuaq

uosuaq — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:34:55 -0800

I guess we might as well pay attention to high finance.

By: jim in austin

jim in austin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:38:15 -0800

Thank gawd they didn't get their lecherous, litigious claws on Atomic Dog...

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:38:18 -0800

Paint the red ink black.

By: ivan ivanych samovar

ivan ivanych samovar — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:44:30 -0800

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.

By: How the runs scored

How the runs scored — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:49:50 -0800

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.

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:49:54 -0800

Piracy is funky now!

By: Lorin

Lorin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:56:51 -0800

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"

By: Lorin

Lorin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:58:51 -0800

Not trying to make a political statement about the above decision, it's just a badass song with an appropriate sounding verse.

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:50:42 -0800

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."

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:56:44 -0800

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.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:02:45 -0800

And he did not kill the deputy.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:11:46 -0800

Oh no. Read it in the news.

By: to sir with millipedes

to sir with millipedes — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:22:29 -0800

Wait a minute. I was sure that he was a Wizard of Finance.

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:44:26 -0800

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.

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:58:43 -0800

Dirty deeds, done on 30% contingency.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:32:20 -0800

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.

By: steambadger

steambadger — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:38:18 -0800

Well, shit. Goddamn.

By: kaibutsu

kaibutsu — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 09:13:51 -0800

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.

By: rouftop

rouftop — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 09:43:09 -0800

psychoalphadiscobetabioaquaduedilligence

By: charred husk

charred husk — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:46:17 -0800

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.

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:30:36 -0800

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.

By: kaibutsu

kaibutsu — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:36:15 -0800

Coming soon, for a limited time, at least until the royalties build up, Pepsi P-Funk.

By: asok

asok — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 06:50:25 -0800

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.