Metallica sues over use of E, F chords.

July 17, 2003 1:12 AM

Metallica sues over use of E, F chords.No, it's not an Onion article. Really. They're completely serious. No exaggerating is taking place here. Honestly, they really are suing another band for using the E and F chords. It's on their website, for god's sake. All I know is, I'm getting drunk tonight.
posted by tweebiscuit (39 comments total)

Metallica is now officially the dumbest band on the planet.

Yes, I even considered Nirvana for a second.
posted by angry modem at 1:24 AM on July 17, 2003

That's not their website, it's scoopthis.com. Isn't it?
posted by damehex at 1:26 AM on July 17, 2003

I think this demonstrates that they have a sense of humour. Not a great sense of humour, mind. But a sense of humour nonetheless.
posted by jonathanbell at 1:28 AM on July 17, 2003

Suckers.
posted by brantstrand at 1:30 AM on July 17, 2003

What if rock bands sued each other over this sort of thing in the '50s concerning the 1-4-5 progression?
posted by krinklyfig at 1:34 AM on July 17, 2003

It has to be a joke. Has to.
Good God.
posted by spinifex at 1:35 AM on July 17, 2003

What are the chances that Unfaith are friends with the folks at scoopthis.com?

The whois info says both domains are registered by this guy.

You could also try to search mtv news or the metallica site for the news. You won't find it.

*cough*hoax!*cough*


posted by rocketpup at 1:35 AM on July 17, 2003

This seems appropriate.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:35 AM on July 17, 2003

Um, yeah, and the banner ad at the top of scoopthis.com is also telling.

Of course, the only reason I actually looked is because I thought it was just plausible. Such is Metallica's image.
posted by rocketpup at 1:39 AM on July 17, 2003

Amazing how you can't find this anywhere else but scoopthis.com. "Unfaith" isn't even listed on MTV's site.

It's either a happy hoax or a publicity stunt for "Unfaith." Take your pick...
posted by metrocake at 1:43 AM on July 17, 2003

Even though it's not at metallica.com, it's the exact same website, so either it's just a more direct URL or someone's really done their work to fool some people. I saw the link on Fark earlier today, but this was the source, and considering the supposed MTV.com and metallica.com links appear in scoopthis.com's "411" subdirectory, this is dubious at best. You can't find the story at the actual metallica.com or MTV.com URLs. The whole thing stinks, even besides the ludicrous premise.

However... Unfaith's official website said they would have a statement shortly, which leads me to believe the conclusion reached on Fark: "It's lame guerilla advertising for the (lame?) Canadian band mentioned in the story."


On preview: Oh, bah, everyone beat me to it. Yeah, this story belongs in a second-rate Onion knockoff.
posted by nath at 1:45 AM on July 17, 2003

All articles are fake unless otherwise specified. Copyright © 1997-2000, ScoopThis.com. All Rights Reserved.

... at the bottom of the scoopthis website. Ah well.. let's pretend its true and bash them anyway. Metallica sucks!!
posted by gatorae at 1:45 AM on July 17, 2003

Oops. Let's pretend this never happened.
posted by angry modem at 1:46 AM on July 17, 2003

A hoax - but totally believable because Metallica are so humourless...I just wish it was true so I could add it to my 36 reasons why Lars is a twat.
posted by meech at 1:48 AM on July 17, 2003

We are fighting this fight for our fans, who don't deserve to be subjected to this confusion... just as we appreciate their support through this.

How about their non-fans, who don't deserve to be subjected to horrid, unoriginal shite like everything they've done since "...And Justice For All"?

In any case, anyone with a guitar handy needs to strum an Em, an F and maybe a G right now, slowly. Notice how flamenco-ish that sounds? The scale that (in E) goes E,F,G,A,B,C,D is called the Phrygian mode, one of a group of seven "modes" (scales, essentially) used in church music since ca. 400 ad. Granted, chord progressions as such probably weren't used back then, but any musician trying to claim ownership of such a simple (if, in pre-80's rock music, unusual) musical concept clearly has no legal basis for doing so. It's as if the estate of Agatha Christie tried to claim royalties over any and all murder mystery novels.

And besides, they nicked the whole thing from Led Zep anyways...

on preview: D'oh!
posted by arto at 1:54 AM on July 17, 2003

Oh, mea culpa, it's a parody ... well, it was pretty funny. I'm usually quick at spotting these things, but I also fell for this, twice ... no, seriously.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:57 AM on July 17, 2003

Whoops ... Rather, it's more a satire than parody. I better stop before I keep digging this hole deeper ...
posted by krinklyfig at 2:00 AM on July 17, 2003

Riiiiiight at the bottom of the "MTV" page:

© and © ScoopThis.com "Because if it's on the net, it's got to be true" (ie, this is a parody.)
posted by PenDevil at 2:07 AM on July 17, 2003

The publicity pseudo-litigation is not new. This is similar, but, in terms of hilarity, inferior to Groucho's exchange with Warner Bros about " a Night in Casablanca".
posted by talos at 2:45 AM on July 17, 2003

I don't think it's lame, it's bloody effective. It even got covered by Ananova in the UK, briefly, although the story was just pulled. See Google news for more.
posted by wackybrit at 3:36 AM on July 17, 2003

Meech, What are your 36 reasons?
posted by nthdegx at 5:01 AM on July 17, 2003

The Fark thread on this yesterday had user NoSoul admit he'd posted the fake articles. NoSoul's real name: Eric Ashley - the lead singer for Unfaith.

Thank goodness for the Libel protection for online writers huh?
posted by KnitWit at 5:08 AM on July 17, 2003

Man...lame, second-rate, libel? It was just a joke. ScoopThis was a great parody site run by funny people that shut down in 2001(-ish).
posted by Yossarian at 5:27 AM on July 17, 2003

Really. They're completely serious. No exaggerating is taking place here. Honestly...

Did you know the word "gullible" isn't listed in the dictionary?
posted by dhoyt at 6:12 AM on July 17, 2003

Parody or not, the sad thing is how quickly I was willing to believe it ... which says loads about my feelings concerning Metallica (who I actually like to enjoy).
posted by Orb at 6:16 AM on July 17, 2003

There are thousands of really caring, thoughtfull US troops getting shot at every day in Iraq - can't we bring them home and send Metallica in their place?
posted by troutfishing at 7:37 AM on July 17, 2003

I have now seen the proof I need that MetaFilter has no sense of humour.
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:01 AM on July 17, 2003

Ah yet this reminds me of when John Fogerty was sued for sounding too much like Creedence Clearwater Revival
posted by bitdamaged at 8:55 AM on July 17, 2003

which says loads about my feelings concerning Metallica

...and loads about those news orgs that have already covered the story as real. Metallica's image in the public and press is pretty awful at the moment.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:05 AM on July 17, 2003

watch your local news for reports that metallica sues scoopthis.com for slander
posted by donkeysuck at 9:40 AM on July 17, 2003

Best line: "I thought it was a prank at first," he told us. "Now I'm not sure what to think."
posted by wobh at 10:13 AM on July 17, 2003

Man, I feel like a boob.

Still, if I had any part in getting the hoax into mainstream news sources, I'm happy.
posted by tweebiscuit at 10:25 AM on July 17, 2003

A 6/9 is now my intellectual property. this chord will now be referred to as "arthur". "artie" is unacceptable.

no, george harrison didn't copyright the name "arthur" for his haircut...the fool...
posted by aiq at 10:25 AM on July 17, 2003

(I did, by the way, actually get drunk. And I'm not sorry.)
posted by tweebiscuit at 10:27 AM on July 17, 2003

Metafilter: It has to be a joke. Has to. Good God.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:27 AM on July 17, 2003

A copy of the bogus MTV article was up and down on MSNBC in the course of 3 hours. Google News carries a bit of evidence though. (don't suppose there's anyplace that caches news sites that quickly?)
posted by KnitWit at 10:43 AM on July 17, 2003

Change Metallica to Phish (for example) and everyone would have immediately said "this is a joke."
posted by tommasz at 11:10 AM on July 17, 2003

the most amazing thing about this is how many discerning mefites accepted it at face value due to the packaging. did y'all know kyle petty is gay?
posted by quonsar at 11:19 AM on July 17, 2003

Parody or not, the sad thing is how quickly I was willing to believe it ... which says loads about my feelings concerning Metallica (who I actually like to enjoy).

Myself. But, I mean...they sued Victoria's Secret over a color named Metallica...they sued Neiman Marcus, they've sued a perfume company, and of course, Napster. Frankly, it's easy to believe that they would try this lawsuit.

I used to love Metallica, I was one of the people they used to let stand with the sound guy to make bootlegs of their shows. (Back when they supported using bootlegs to get their music to markets who might not otherwise hear it.) But, they lost me forever when they said, "We were never a heavy metal band."
posted by dejah420 at 5:09 PM on July 17, 2003