Megaupload commissions a song by major artists, UMG repeatedly tries to take it down and brands them
54 replies, posted
[quote]
Earlier today, Megaupload released a pop video featuring mainstream artists who endorse the cyberlocker service. News of the controversial Mega Song even trended on Twitter, but has now been removed from YouTube on copyright grounds by Universal Music. Kim Dotcom says that Megaupload owns everything in the video, and that the label has engaged in dirty tricks in an attempt to sabotage their successful viral campaign.
This morning we [URL="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-label-artists-a-list-stars-endorse-megaupload-in-new-song-111209/"]published an article[/URL] on a new campaign by cyberlocker service [URL="http://megaupload.com/"]Megaupload[/URL].
Site founder Kim Dotcom told TorrentFreak he had commissioned a song from producer Printz Board featuring huge recording artists including P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, The Game and Mary J Blige. These and others were shouting the praises of Megaupload.
By this afternoon #megaupload was trending on Twitter as news of the song spread. Little surprise interest was so high; Megaupload is described as a rogue site by the RIAA and here are some of their key labels’ artists promoting the service in the most powerful way possible – through a song.
And then, just a little while ago, the [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9caPFPQUNs"]music stopped[/URL]. Visitors to YouTube hoping to listen to the Mega Song were met with the following message.
[IMG]http://torrentfreak.com/images/megasongblocked.jpg[/IMG]
TorrentFreak immediately contacted Kim to find out what was happening.
“Those UMG criminals. They are sending illegitimate takedown notices for content they don’t own,” he told us. “Dirty tricks in an effort to stop our massively successful viral campaign.”
So did Universal have any right at all to issue YouTube with a takedown notice? Uncleared samples, anything?
“Mega owns everything in this video. And we have signed agreements with every featured artist for this campaign,” Kim told TorrentFreak.
“UMG did something illegal and unfair by reporting Mega’s content to be infringing. They had no right to do that. We reserve our rights to take legal action. But we’d like to give them the opportunity to apologize.”
“UMG is such a rogue label,” Kim added, wholly appreciating the irony.
A few minutes after this exchange Kim contacted us with good news. After filing a YouTube copyright takedown dispute, the video was reinstated. But alas, just seconds later, it was taken down again.
“We filed a dispute, the video came back online and now it’s blocked again by UMG and the automated YouTube system has threatened to block our account for repeat infringement,” Kim explained.
TorrentFreak spoke with Corynne McSherry, Intellectual Property Director at EFF, who says this type of copyright abuse is nothing new.
“This appears to be yet another example of the kind of takedown abuse we’ve seen under existing law — and another reason why Congress should soundly reject the broad new powers contemplated in the Internet Blacklist Bills, [URL="https://www.eff.org/issues/coica-internet-censorship-and-copyright-bill"]aka SOPA/PIPA[/URL].
“If IP rightholders can’t be trusted to use the tools already at their disposal — and they can’t — we shouldn’t be giving them new ways to stifle online speech and creativity,” McSherry concludes.
Sherwin Siy, Deputy Legal Director at [URL="http://www.publicknowledge.org/"]Public Knowledge[/URL], worries that this type of sweeping power would only be augmented with the arrival of the SOPA anti-piracy bill in the US.
“If UMG took down a video it has no rights to, then what we have here is exactly the sort of abuse that careless, overzealous, or malicious copyright holders can create by abusing a takedown law,” he told us.
“What makes this even worse is that UMG, among others, is pushing to expand its power to shut people down by fiat–SOPA lets rightsholders de-fund entire websites with the same sort of non-reviewed demand that removed this video,” he concludes.
Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom informs us that he has now submitted an international counter notification to YouTube, informing them that UMG has no rights to anything in the video and that the label abused the YouTube takedown system to sabotage the company’s business.
“It’s ridiculous how UMG is abusing their intervention powers in YouTube’s system to stop our legitimate campaign. They are willfully sabotaging this viral campaign. They own no rights to this content,” Kim insists.
“What UMG is doing is illegal. And those are the people who are calling Mega rogue? Insanity!”
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect"]Streisand Effect[/URL], here we come again.
[B]Update:[/B] “The fact that this expression could be silenced by a major label — without any apparent infringement — should be seriously troubling to anyone who cares about artists’ speech rights,” says Casey Rae-Hunter, Deputy Director, Future of Music Coalition. “If this can happen to Snoop Dogg and others, it can happen to anyone.”
[/quote]
The "offending" song:
[URL]http://www.megavideo.com/?v=NFS30PZO[/URL]
Stay free UMG, and google.
[URL]http://torrentfreak.com/universal-censors-megaupload-song-gets-branded-a-rogue-label-111210/[/URL]
Well that's some serious bullshit.
That's the record label industry for you.
Why has it stopped here? The UMG people behind it should be clapped in irons for their crimes.
Isn't sending copyright takedown notices on stuff you don't own against the law in the US and a few other countries?
wow, the situation is so idiotic, it becomes funny.
A company lobbying for "copyright" completely ignores copyright and misuses it for their own purpose.
[QUOTE=Omali;33654155]Isn't sending copyright takedown notices on stuff you don't own against the law in the US and a few other countries?[/QUOTE]Not when you have enough money to buy a few congressional seats.
Youtube should try and use this as an excuse to not listen to their shit any more since they obviously can't be trusted.
The fuck is UMG doing, if Megaupload is right in what they are saying that they own the rights to whatever was used UMG shouldn't have any damn legal power over this.
They are just abusing their Google access on youtube yet again.
I think this is not the first case of a group claiming copyrights to something they don't own. I don't remember but there was another news where they took something down without their rights and some shit was going down.
Not a bad song either.
[QUOTE=Maagiline;33654159]wow, the situation is so idiotic, it becomes funny.
A company lobbying for "copyright" completely ignores copyright and misuses it for their own purpose.[/QUOTE]
They don't give a damn about copyright, only money.
Though copyright can be used as a tool to fetch them more money, even when it isn't even their business
[QUOTE=scotland1;33654361]Not a bad song either.[/QUOTE]
Are you kidding? It's fucking [I]terrible![/I]
But whatever. To each his own. :P
The song is so bad I don't even mind.
Dumbass companies that don't allow ANY freedom whatsoever.
[editline]10th December 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Master X;33654437]Are you kidding? It's fucking [I]terrible![/I]
But whatever. To each his own. :P[/QUOTE]
I like what you didn't do there.
They should have gotten Rebecca Black to sing, it would have vastly improved the song.
It's quite a good song. But a bit repetitive.
[QUOTE=Mr.T;33654870]It's quite a good song. But a bit repetitive.[/QUOTE]
It's not really about the composing, more about the intent.
Why would anyone use megaupload anyway? you have to wait 1 minute to even start the download. Once it is started it's properly slow as hell too.
[QUOTE=AK'z;33654876]It's not really about the composing, more about the intent.[/QUOTE]
It's just an annoying advert that lasts too long. It's a good idea getting all the people to back a "rogue website" but it could have been a little more pleasing to the ear.
[QUOTE=Zyx;33654974]Why would anyone use megaupload anyway? you have to wait 1 minute to even start the download. Once it is started it's properly slow as hell too.[/QUOTE]
MU maxes out my connection at 2.5MB/s so I like it.
[QUOTE=squids_eye;33655019]It's just an annoying advert that lasts too long. It's a good idea getting all the people to back a "rogue website" but it could have been a little more pleasing to the ear.[/QUOTE]
Well it's not exactly harsh noise music. So I don't see your point.
[QUOTE=AK'z;33655089]Well it's not exactly harsh noise music. So I don't see your point.[/QUOTE]
It's badly written, just because it doesn't physically hurt doesn't mean that it is automatically pleasing.
[QUOTE=squids_eye;33655104]It's badly written, just because it doesn't physically hurt doesn't mean that it is automatically pleasing.[/QUOTE]
Well it's not actually trying to be a Bob Dylan song.
Megaupload isn't that bad.
That song is pretty decent, was expecting something shitty. UMG is fucking retarded as usual.
[QUOTE=AK'z;33655118]Well it's not actually trying to be a Bob Dylan song.[/QUOTE]
Obviously. But that's kinda my point, they could have tried a little harder. If you are going to write a song, at least try to make it good.
[QUOTE=squids_eye;33655197]Obviously. But that's kinda my point, they could have tried a little harder. If you are going to write a song, at least try to make it good.[/QUOTE]
Well the intent was accomplished, why make it too deep for plebs to misunderstand?
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33655066]MU maxes out my connection at 2.5MB/s so I like it.[/QUOTE]
Also as a free user?
Megaupload should sue UMG and Google for lost ad revenue
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