Sony BMG issues takedown notice to kill Romney ad

A couple of days ago, the Obama campaign released this surprisingly effective attack ad: Mitt's dreadful singing of America The Beautiful played over stock visuals of empty factories. But Romney's counter—an ad ridiculing Obama's singing of Al Green's Let Stay Together at a campaign stop—isn't working out. Why? Because BMG, the song's intellectual proprietor, issued a copyright claim to kill it.

Romney's campaign claims that this is bullshit, because their deployment of the Obama footage is fair use. You know what? They are damned right about that.

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robdobbs

So no place to see that Mitvertizment then?
http://pattib.org Patti

While I find that hilarious, it also seems profoundly wrong to me. What a misuse of copyright.
- JProffitt71
  
  Yeah, can’t help but feel like this is giving the right-wing ammunition to stonewall a whole bunch of arguments with finger pointing and conspiracy spouting. Man we need a third party…
  - https://twitter.com/PhoetrySlam Cyran0
    
    And a fourth . . . and a fifth . . . need I continue?
    - JProffitt71
      
      Ha! True – if I’m going to dream I should dream big.
  - Mantissa128
    
    Indeed.
  - http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael
    
    Nothing like citing a large corporation detested by the left as part of your left-wing conspiracy. What a cover!
  - Navin_Johnson
    
    There are a number of them.
- Martijn Vos
  
  It might be fair use, but I approve of politicians feeling the results of the increasing irrelevance of fair use in this system they saddled us with.
http://www.facebook.com/rick.diehl Rick Diehl

It’s not a very good ad really, but it is certainly fair use.
http://twitter.com/AbelUndercity Abel Undercity

Yes, it’s fair use. But I can’t help laughing. Would Romney call aggressive protection of fair use rights an unreasonable regulatory burden on business? I rather think he would.
gedsudski

…. and Obama nailed it, can’t say the same for Romney.
http://twitter.com/ian Ian McKellar

Why is it fair use? It’s not criticism of the work, it’s criticism of the singer. The owner of the rights the the performance couldn’t order a take-down but the songwriter should be able to.

IANAL, I don’t necessarily agree with the laws.
- poipoi
  
  You’re right, Ian. It may not necessarily be fair use. Courts make a distinction between a parody (using the work to comment on the work itself) and satire (using the work to comment on something else) and are more likely to find a fair use when it is a parody.
- http://twitter.com/lostexpectation steve white
  
  presumably its news footage
- retchdog
  
  it’s political speech; the work has been transformed, twice, at least somewhat; the excerpt is probably not of substantial length (conveniently, i’m not allowed to check this…); and it will have minimal, possibly zero, negative impact on the sales of authorized copies of the sony/bmg recording.
  - corydodt
    
    If Obama likes Al Green, and Romney doesn’t, I’ll consider a purchase. Just sayin’.
- http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza
  
  The word you are looking for is “transformation“
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002350318931 Alison Green

Mitt Romney also stole the use of K’naan’s song “A Waving Flag.
Extra stupid since K’Naan is a Somalia born Canadian.
He said he would have gladly let Obama use it.
Romney just takes and takes and takes.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  ‘Well bred’ white men stealing the things of brown people? Why I never!
  - The Rizz
    
    Are you referring to K’naan’s song, or Obama’s presidency?
- Jerril
  
  We certainly did a lot of eye-rolling up here about that one.
petsounds

“I don’t agree with what you have to say, Mitt, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”
- retchdog
  
  “i don’t agree with the context of your copy of a copy of an ad-hoc performance of a copyrighted work, but i will defend to the death your right to recontextualize a copy of a copy, by copying it.”
  - http://www.facebook.com/mibuki Maya Ibuki
    
    Yo dawg, I heard you like copies…
- Andrew Singleton
  
  ndeed. The true test of someone’s conviction about an issue is if they’re willing to give the same rights they’re fighting for to someone they can’t stand.
  
  Romney is in the right here. As tasteless as the ad is. He has every right to do what he’s been doing.
  - urpBurp
    
    Hit the nail smack on the head Andrew. If an issue is worth fighting for, it shouldn’t have partisan lines within it. Obama and Romney should both be able to run their ads. We don’t need big companies like YouTube deciding what information we receive.
    
    Every day brings us closer to the Idiocracy…
TaymonBeal

I’m trying to be outraged about this. Really, I am.
http://mightybob.com thatbob

If this experience inspires Romney, Republicans, or conservatives in general to relax somewhat from the current aggressive pro-copyright stance adopted by both parties, then great! He should make this as big a campaign issue as possible!
But otherwise: cry me a freaking river.
- Daemonworks
  
  That would never happen. Conservativism is largely based on double-standards.
  - urpBurp
    
    “Conservativism is largely based on double-standards.”
    
    As is every other political group by definition. When I am asinine enough to only assemble/interact with people who think and act just like me, and at the same time say the world should be more accepting of others, then I am only fooling myself.
    
    Right and wrong is not defined by party lines. Can the world please just wake up and realize that before we ruin civilization? No one party has all the answers or all the blame.
    
    Pull your head out. That star on your belly doesn’t make you the only Sneetch worth listening to.
    - Navin_Johnson
      
      Right wing conservatism *is* wrong, and people should not be afraid to say so. Also, Daemonworks did not mention parties, so it is not a question of whether the two major ones are always right or wrong. Obviously both parties have their share of imbeciles, but we’re talking about philosophies (conservatism/progressivism) that actually can be broken down into moral/ethical positions. This kind of ‘nobody’s wrong or right’ notion pretty much has to discount any sense of ethics or natural rights. See “Which side are you on” for a helpful reminder.
      
      When I am asinine enough to only assemble/interact with people who think and act just like me
      
      You can mingle with all kinds of people and still tell them they’re wrong when they put forth an idea or belief that *is* wrong.
      
      Personally I disagree that conservatism is about double-standards, it’s largely based on a protection of privilege and hierarchy, whether it’s by class, race, gender, religion, and so on, and that is wrong.
      - urpBurp
        
        Navin, I think you misunderstood some of what I was saying or maybe I just wasn’t clear. Wouldn’t be the first time :) So I would like to try and clear it up…
        
        “This kind of ‘nobody’s wrong or right’ notion pretty much has to discount any sense of ethics or natural rights.”
        
        I personally detest the “Everybody get’s a trophy just for playing” thing. I didn’t mean to imply that nobody’s right or wrong. In fact I meant just the opposite. I meant that people need to be held accountable for their actions regardless if we think they are on our team (whatever that may be) or the other team.
        
        Your second to last paragraph is spot-on. You should acknowledge the “wrongs” or double-standards in life, and you also must acknowledge them in the groups you associate with. That is the only way to not be a hypocrite. That is the only way to fix the issues we face today.
        
        It bothers me (and I did lump in political parties just because the post was about Romney/Obama) when people automatically dismiss actions of their friends just because they aren’t “on my side”. This has soured me so much on every political party right now. And when your talking about these groups, I don’t think it’s such a far stretch to associate the Right-Wing Conservatives with their political parties, just as it’s easy to associate Left-Wing Liberals or Progressives with their political parties.
        
        So to remove all labels and group names and to try and get to the basic gist of what you are saying is wrong… If you are saying this is wrong:
        
        “a protection of privilege and hierarchy, whether it’s by class, race, gender, religion, and so on”
        
        Then I agree 100%.
      - Navin_Johnson
        
        Fair dues urpBurp,
        I apologize for getting your reading your post wrong, I think we’re on the same page after reading your response.
        
        You should acknowledge the “wrongs” or double-standards in life, and you also must acknowledge them in the groups you associate with. That is the only way to not be a hypocrite. That is the only way to fix the issues we face today.
        
        Amen, absolutely.
    - http://twitter.com/aigarius Aigars Mahinovs
      
      There is a huge number of examples of Conservatives that based their campaigns and legislative agendas squarely on family values and later were discovered to be creating (as in breaking family values). There are far less Liberal politicians caught cheating on their wifes and (and this is a key difference) these Liberals were not using family values as cornerstones of their campaign.
      If you are caught cheating, that is sad.
      If you get elected because you proclaim that you hold family values in high esteem and you family values are greater than mine and that is why we should all listen to you and accept your judgement on what is good or bad for families and then you are caught cheating … well that is despicable.
      When then your party members try to defend you buy saying that everyone cheats, even when they called for impeachment for a lesser infringement just a few years back, that is double-standard and should be just as despicable.
nixiebunny

Proof that the liberal mass media are out to screw the God-fearing Republican patriots.
- http://www.facebook.com/joe.wallace1 Joe Wallace
  
  Who’s this “God”, then?
  - chgoliz
    
    I think you mean: whose god?
http://www.facebook.com/joe.wallace1 Joe Wallace

It’s not fair use because it’s not a parody and it’s a commentary on Obama–NOT the original work. Fair use is when you comment, report, criticize or parody the original work.
- retchdog
  
  parody is just one “prong” of fair use. parodying the original work is a fairly reliable (though not certain) ticket, but there are other ways.
- http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza
  
  Your understanding of fair use is so very Usenet Argument Circa 1996. You haven’t even exhausted the list of Fair Use examples from like the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article about it!
  - Tribune
    
    So this is the Michael Bay version of Romney and Obama?
  - http://www.facebook.com/joe.wallace1 Joe Wallace
    
    Hey, Usenet was an important public service for trolls, who really should be given some kind of recognition of their condition because they just…can’t…help…themselves. They own computers, therefore, they are.
http://www.facebook.com/joe.wallace1 Joe Wallace

Also–the whole issue could be avoided if the people who ran the ad would pony up the nine cents per reproduction to the Harry Fox Agency the way any band who does a cover is required to do. Not that I’m a Romney supporter–he’s a used car salesman with a set of Blue Chip stocks and offshore accounts–but if they’d just pay the money, the story would be over.
ocatagon

And yet if he gets into office, he won’t do squat about this problem. He’ll just support more and more draconian copyright measures, just like Obama is.
- lafave
  
  It evens out since Obama supports the exporting of American jobs overseas (see his multilateral Asian trade deal aka his support of so-called “free” trade) even though he criticizes offshoring in his ad. It’s all just like, kabuki, man.
  - http://www.facebook.com/mibuki Maya Ibuki
    
    I love the smell of propaganda in the morning. And Japanese theatre has nothing to do with American politics. If you’re going to compare it to anything, compare it to American Idol. Everybody’s the same, the only difference is looks, and they’re all morons.
    - Betsumei
      
      The difference is that people actually bother to vote for American Idol. Maybe that’s why they’re bringing a singing contest into this election.
disillusion

Here’s my question, if they’re claiming copyright infringement for Romney’s use of Obama singing for the ad, why haven’t they sued Obama for his performance of said work? Or did Obama pay the required fees and all the legal mumbo-jumbo?

Also, it’s not a matter of which candidate is better, but which one’s the least worst, sadly.
- morcheeba
  
  There are different rules for live performances (Obama singing it at the Apollo) and for recorded versions (Romney’s ad). Live performances go through an organization like BMI or ASCAP; recorded cover versions go though the Harry Fox agency. I’m no expert on this part, but I think the live performances are negotiated with the venue, while covers are negotiated with the re-performing artist (Obama).
  
  But, overall, I think it’s fair use.
  - http://www.facebook.com/joe.wallace1 Joe Wallace
    
    The performance vs. mechanical reproduction aspect is true–the venue would have paid the fees for the year already. Is the ad protected just because it’s political speech? I wasn’t aware of that angle.
    - urpBurp
      
      Not an attack, I’m just asking…
      
      Do news agencies and entertainment sites need permission to show Obama signing the song? Is Romney in the clear because he’s just “reporting” something that happened and then giving commentary on it?
simonbarsinister

Excerpt from an old Native American tale:

Mitt played the song and the RIAA sued him. “But why?” Mitt asked, “when I was one of the ones who passed the laws you wanted”. “Because I am the RIAA,” they replied, ” and that is my nature”.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Actually, that’s sometimes attributed to Aesop, but apparently from India c. 300BCE.
  - http://burntheflag.ca Jardine
    
    I think I’m going to start attributing it to Star Trek: Voyager.
    - The Rizz
      
      Just attribute it to The Doctor. There’s a decent chance he was actually there, after all…
      - http://www.facebook.com/mibuki Maya Ibuki
        
        Along with The Almighty Chin of Bruce Campbell.
Thomas Zaraat

“America the Beautiful” is in the Public Domain. ”Let Stay Together” isn’t.
- niktemadur
  
  Since Mister Al Green is a spry 66 and still performing, I’m guesstimating that Romney will have to wait around a hundred years to use that tune.
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

Not that I’ve seen a whole lot of American political advertising, but this appears to be excellent.

And it shouldn’t be. Those GOP scumbags have been providing this sort of ammo for decades, but the Democrats usually seem to hit like a girl.

A nice change to see a real bone-breaker though : )
unit_1421

The ad can still be seen here:

http://electad.com/video/mitt-romney-ad-political-payoffs-and-middle-class-layoffs/
- unit_1421
  
  I concur with Joe, but I also think the grounds for the take down is that the ad is meant to get you to the website mentioned at the end to donate to the Romney campaign. If there were no solicitation, I think Fair Use would stand.
V10_Rob

Ah, but you see, our guy did it, so in his case it’s OK.

“When the president does it, it means it’s not illegal” – Richard Nixon
http://www.facebook.com/richard.g.milner.9 Richard Graham Milner

I don’t see why it would be fair use, just because it has been used in a political advert rather than a commercial one.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
hugh crawford

How could an ad agency using the lyrics in an paid commercial advertisement possibly be fair use?
They would need to pay synchronization royalties , and if it’s running where people have to ask to see it they would need to get an interactive license.

If they wanted to sell CDs of Obama singing they could pay the 9 cent royalty without even asking.

I’m not quite understanding what Sony/BMI has to do with this though , shouldn’t it be someone like ASCAP be acting for the songwriter?

I understand that Obama was singing during an Al Green Performance on stage with Al Green , so maybe it’s Al Green’s performance rights that are the issue , in which case I could see Sony/BMI having a stake if the Reverend Green were under contract.
urpBurp

OK, just watched the ad. Separating any “Evil/Good, True/False, or Dem/Rep” opinions from the ad here’s my take-away:

1) It doesn’t work.
2) It’s lame.
3) And Obama has a really good singing voice.

That’s what I got out of it.
Aurvondel

It’s just a DMCA takedown notice, which Google tends to comply with as a matter of course. Google/Youtube probably does not have the legal staff to individually evaluate each claim and refuse some of them. And do we know for certain that it was even Sony BMG who made the request? Rather than some prankster reporting a violation of copyright through the standard YouTube flag violation form?

Of course, it was Sony, it does make them look like they’re directly inserting themselves into the campaign in order to suppress political speech on the other side, since dozens of other recordings of the President’s singing are available on Youtube, untouched and unmolested by any copyright claims.

Now the Romney campaign can appeal the takedown, but it’ll take a couple weeks to process.
http://profiles.google.com/johnrhoffman John Hoffman

BMG has had a history of being a set of dicks about their copyrights, but this time I’ll give them a pass. Obama/Biden 2012!