Eminem vs. New Zealand's ruling National Party
May 3, 2017 5:32 AM Subscribe
New Zealand Court Plays Eminem's "Lose Yourself" A very nicely edited video of a court hearing listening to Eminem's Lose Yourself and the NZ National Party's election ad music which is alleged to have ripped it off eh.
(via @BrydieLK)
(via @BrydieLK)
Wow, you can get dinged (or at least have questions asked) for infringement for a whole lot less than that (ask me how I know), but that's inexcusable. It's not a pastiche or an homage, it's a straight-up ripoff (the structure, the rhythm, the melodic figures).
The Guardian suggests that the track was bought from Beatbox Music, which itself is a sub-publisher for a ton of big-name libraries from around the world. I wonder which library actually published that track, because ultimately they're the ones who screwed up.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:10 AM on May 3, 2017
The Guardian suggests that the track was bought from Beatbox Music, which itself is a sub-publisher for a ton of big-name libraries from around the world. I wonder which library actually published that track, because ultimately they're the ones who screwed up.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:10 AM on May 3, 2017
tl;dr request--is mom's spaghetti involved?
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:14 AM on May 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:14 AM on May 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I heard neither lyrics nor melody in the second track, the two things you typically use to determine if a song was "ripped off". Actually, I did not even hear a melody in the first track. So I suppose that puts the case into "look and feel" territory, or perhaps even "branding".
posted by jabah at 6:25 AM on May 3, 2017
posted by jabah at 6:25 AM on May 3, 2017
I was previously convinced we entered the Twilight Zone last November. Watching that is undeniable proof that we have.
posted by Twain Device at 6:26 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Twain Device at 6:26 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
So I suppose that puts the case into "look and feel" territory, or perhaps even "branding".
In the US, at least, although only the melody and lyrics of a composition can be copyrighted, lots of infringement cases have been won on non-melodic grounds (most recently the hotly-contested "Blurred Lines" case).
posted by uncleozzy at 6:34 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
In the US, at least, although only the melody and lyrics of a composition can be copyrighted, lots of infringement cases have been won on non-melodic grounds (most recently the hotly-contested "Blurred Lines" case).
posted by uncleozzy at 6:34 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Once, a friend of mine made a (non professional) short film, with an ending that was, in his view, an intentional homage to the end of a famous Western. He shot scenes to match, edited against the actual soundtrack to that film's ending, then asked me to compose music that would evoke the film's ending score.
I sat down, listened to the real thing over and over, selected instruments that sounded as close to the original as possible, and constructed a foundation that was as close to the original as I could get. I then changed the chord structure here and there, and changed the solo instruments' melodies so that they worked with the modified cord structure (and so that they went in a slightly different direction here and there to skim off the more obvious copying.)
The end result sounded like someone had made a copy of the original song, except that the signature solo melodies weren't quite right. If you knew the original and played mine back, it would be an uncanny valley experience where the song was clearly the same song, except it also wasn't; and where it wasnt, your brain would constantly be replacing the "wrong" parts in your head with your memory of the original. Which was, in short, my goal at the time.
I haven't thought about that in years... Until the first moment the alleged infringing track's chord structure deviated from what my brain was expecting based on familiarity with Eminem's track. It seems painfully obvious to me that the composer of the alleged infringing track used a process similar to mine.
posted by davejay at 6:51 AM on May 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I sat down, listened to the real thing over and over, selected instruments that sounded as close to the original as possible, and constructed a foundation that was as close to the original as I could get. I then changed the chord structure here and there, and changed the solo instruments' melodies so that they worked with the modified cord structure (and so that they went in a slightly different direction here and there to skim off the more obvious copying.)
The end result sounded like someone had made a copy of the original song, except that the signature solo melodies weren't quite right. If you knew the original and played mine back, it would be an uncanny valley experience where the song was clearly the same song, except it also wasn't; and where it wasnt, your brain would constantly be replacing the "wrong" parts in your head with your memory of the original. Which was, in short, my goal at the time.
I haven't thought about that in years... Until the first moment the alleged infringing track's chord structure deviated from what my brain was expecting based on familiarity with Eminem's track. It seems painfully obvious to me that the composer of the alleged infringing track used a process similar to mine.
posted by davejay at 6:51 AM on May 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Props for the video description:
The prosecution's steady
Defense looks kind of sweaty
There's a caterer here for lunch, and it's ready
Mum's spaghetti
posted by Shepherd at 8:37 AM on May 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
The prosecution's steady
Defense looks kind of sweaty
There's a caterer here for lunch, and it's ready
Mum's spaghetti
posted by Shepherd at 8:37 AM on May 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Ha, a friend of mine was at a casino poker table sometime during the early 2000s poker explosion, seated next to a guy who played "Lose Yourself" on his iPod loud enough for everybody else to hear every time he got into a hand.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:00 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by uncleozzy at 9:00 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
OK, that's not right—but I'm a 62 year old woman who favors Springsteen and Paul Westerberg/the 'Mats and even I love that song, so I can't say I'm surprised that it's been so weirdly misappropriated.
posted by she's not there at 9:10 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by she's not there at 9:10 AM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I heard neither lyrics nor melody in the second track, the two things you typically use to determine if a song was "ripped off". Actually, I did not even hear a melody in the first track. So I suppose that puts the case into "look and feel" territory, or perhaps even "branding".
I think when the track is called 'Eminem-esque' you have an uphill battle to demonstrate that you stumbled upon that riff in good faith.
posted by Sebmojo at 1:30 PM on May 3, 2017
I think when the track is called 'Eminem-esque' you have an uphill battle to demonstrate that you stumbled upon that riff in good faith.
posted by Sebmojo at 1:30 PM on May 3, 2017
I think they ripped of Weird Al's version...
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 2:09 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by littlejohnnyjewel at 2:09 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
You know who else likes Lose Yourself.
Yep, Jordan from Axis of Awesome likes it quite a bit.
posted by Soulfather at 2:25 PM on May 3, 2017
Yep, Jordan from Axis of Awesome likes it quite a bit.
posted by Soulfather at 2:25 PM on May 3, 2017
John Oliver covered this a while back, and apparently the party campaign manager thought it was "pretty legal".
posted by drnick at 2:29 AM on May 4, 2017
posted by drnick at 2:29 AM on May 4, 2017
apparently the party campaign manager
He was also Minister of Economic Development at the time, the ministry that included the Intellectual Property Office.
posted by Sparx at 9:54 PM on May 4, 2017
He was also Minister of Economic Development at the time, the ministry that included the Intellectual Property Office.
posted by Sparx at 9:54 PM on May 4, 2017
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