Did he say this to the fuckheads using torrents? To bloggers? To YouTube? No, to Donald Trump!
Ha ha ho ho hee hee.
Artist's Rights!
ARTIST'S RIGHTS???
Did you know there was STILL something called ARTIST'S RIGHTS?
Well, Old Squeaky does, so he told his manager to tell Trump not to play "Rockin' the Free World" at any of his speeches.
It's a bit ironic that artists are losing a fortune to pirates, and their managers do NOTHING about it, and don't file DMCA's and don't even leave a "bad" comment on a blog. But a corny blowhard like Trump uses Neil Young for background music, and "Oooh! Heyy! Look out!"
It does let people know Neil Young is still alive.
It gives the ILLUSION that he's also looking out for his rights and the rights of his fellow musicians, most especially those who aren't millionaires like he is. But in reality, HE IS NOT.
He's just a rich bastard himself, a publicity whore, and a fool who embraces obnoxious "radicals" who say "fuck record labels" and "music should be free." Why? Because it would be BAD publicity if he spoke out against jerks such as Pirate Bay?
Turtle-face Neil used to be in a shitty group with three pulps named Crosby, Stills and Nash. They harmonized "We can cha-a-a-a-ange the wo-o-o-o-o-rld."
Yeah? By singing? How about if Neil, Paul Simon, Dylan, Jay-z, Beyonce and the rest WALKED OUT on the Grammy Awards just before airtime? And they said, "We are not performing FREE on TV until the government of Sweden puts Pirate Bay's bastards in JAIL AGAIN." And, "We will not perform FREEE on TV until the copyright laws around the world make it easy to block rogue websites and to arrest and convict obnoxious bloggers who STEAL OUR STUFF."
Nah. Neil wants publicity off Trump's name. "Oh, wow, Trump used my song! I'll get to kick an easier target than Kickass!"
Songwriters do have the right...to bully guys like Trump, or writers who want to quote a few lines from a song in a book or magazine article. That's called "Pesterin' the Real World."
If I wanted to quote 6 lines of a Neil Young song I'd have to jump through hoops and contact the publisher and offer MONEY. When Bill Clinton used "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow" by Fleetwood Mac for his official campaign song, he either paid up, or got permission.
Torrents? Bloggers? YouTube? Nah. That's the INTERNET.
Fact is, rich "rights organizations" such as ASCAP AND BMI often "license" music WITHOUT asking permission from the songwriters they represent. It's just doin' business: "You wanna use something we administer? Fine. PAY US and we'll give a few pennies to the artist...as we do with jukebox usage, radio, weddings, and funerals."
Muddy Waters wasn't a guy, it's a technique. You muddy the waters by finding usage loopholes. Even greedy "rights organizations" can't step on each other's soft footsies. RIAA handles abuse of records (sometimes) but not bootlegs, and BMI doesn't care about podcasts, etc. Writer Emily Heil (no jokes) from The Washington Post: "“The laws are complicated. It may be okay to use a song in one setting, like a convention center, but taboo in another."
For instance, if you're a politician on the street, and somebody just happens to be playing "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the background, that's fine. The politician doesn't have to pay up. But use it as your entrance music, and you need permission. But then the question is, permission FROM WHO? More often than not, the record label, the publisher or somebody else owns administrative rights, and the artist doesn't have anything to say. Which is why sometimes an artist hates a cover version of a tune and wonders who gave permission for the incompetent jerk to record it.
The best that most artists can do is draw attention to themselves by asking a politician to cut it out. That's what Tom Petty did when Dubya Bush used "I Won't Back Down" as walk-on music and Mitt Romney swiped "Eye of the Tiger." The pussies of Heart were glad to let everyone know they were still available or gigs by screaming that the hideous Sarah Palin had no right to play "Barracuda." And John McCain used "Our Country" by John Cougar Cantelope. Stars can get a lot of attention by whining that THEY don't support THIS candidate, and it can embarrass that politician when his rival gets endorsed instead.
Bottom line, it's real nice that artists can be SO offended, and SO concerned about copyright WHEN it suits them and when the target is somebody easy to sue.
Neil Young gets a pat on the back for sneering at Donald Trump. But the pouty Canadian isn't SO concerned about money that he'd hire hackers and a detective to take down Kickass or Zinfuck. Making things tough on some Republican billionaire with bad hair, yeah, but "ruining the fun" for Eurotrash thieves who tell the world "music should be free?" THAT is not FUN in the FREE WORLD for NEIL YOUNG.
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