GoldieBlox vs. The Beastie Boys: Was a Settlement "Just Right?"

Courtesy of Google Images

Courtesy of Google Images

The toy company, GoldieBlox, has settled the copyright lawsuit filed against them by the Beastie Boys.  This suit was a result of a parody made by the toy company, which featured their rewrite of the Beasties' song, "Girls."  Even though GoldieBlox took down the original video and replaced it with the same video with a different audio track, the Beastie Boys did not withdraw their suit.  This did not seem to fit the Beastie Boys' typical MO, as they are normally the ones defending their work.  Why have they suddenly become the aggressors and why did GoldieBlox settle with them?

Courtesy of Twisted Sifter.com

 The Beastie Boys do have an understandable reason to be upset over the parody.  Adam Yauch's will expressly forbade the use of "any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes" (Cubarrubia par. 2).  I can understand how this would upset them, after all, GoldieBlox did not ask their permission.  However, they should not have had the level of success that they did under fair use.

I can respect the Beastie Boys for fighting for the wishes of their late band mate, but they should not have a case legally.  Goldieblox's fair use defense would have stood up in a court.  It followed all of the guidelines for fair use, as laid out by Corynne McSherry:

1. The purpose or nature of the use (McSherry par. 5).
2. The nature of the original work (McSherry par. 6).
3. The amount of the original work used (McSherry par. 7).
4. Market harm (McSherry par. 8).

All of these factors support GoldieBlox claim of fair use.  What this all boils down to is, if this had gone to court, GoldieBlox would have won the case.

That being said, even given my limited knowledge of court procedures, I know that a settlement was, sadly, the best option.  Being a small company, GoldieBlox could not have withstood a drawn out legal battle.  All the Beasties' would have to do is wait them out.

While I believe that GoldieBlox would have won had it gone to trial, I understand that if they had tried to win the battle they would have lost the war.  GoldieBlox did everything the best way they could from the position that they were in.  They made a great video, and, even though they had to settle, they are still here to make another great video.

                                                                                 Works Cited   

Cubarrubia, RJ. “Adam Yauch's Will Prohibits Use of His Music in Ads.” Rolling Stone. 9 August 2012. Web. 7 April 2014.

McSherry, Corynne.  “Girls Against Boys: What's Wrong With the (Latest) Beastie Boys Lawsuit.” Electronic Frontier Foundation. 24 November 2013. Web. 7 April 2014.

Wee, Heesun. “Toy start-up GoldieBlox settles lawsuit with Beastie Boys.” CNBC. 18 March 2014. Web.               10 April 2014.

Its Her Party, She Can Do What She Wants To

Courtesy of Fashion Magazine

Once upon a time Miley Cyrus starred as the a sweet and innocent popstar, Hannah Montana. Now 21, Miley Cyrus has entered a whole other realm with her music. The singer no longer dances around in wigs singing of her alter ego, but prances around in thongs singing about partying and being wild. Recently a lot of controversy has surrounded her new tour including parents wanting her tour shut down, but Miley informed her Smilerz that there was no truth behind the rumors.

In June of 2010 Miley released, I Can’t Be Tamed. The song shocked her fans because it was a side of Miley they had never seen. The singer wore a scandalous black leotard as she strutted her way through the video. In hindsight, this was mild compared to her current  performances.

Courtesy of twistedsifter.com 

This past year Cyrus released her new album “Bangerz” and received mixed reviews. You either love her new album, or you hate it. Her concerts are wild parties with eccentric animations, dancers of all shapes and sizes, and lots of outrageous costume changes. And Miley has made it clear that she does not care if you like it or not. It's her party.

Personally, I love Miley Cyrus. I love that she’s broken out of her Hannah Montana role to be a performer that a lot of college kids can relate to. Did people really think she was going to sing to 8 year olds for the rest of her life..? Our generation grew up with Miley and we can relate to her now more than ever. However, according to George Varga, Miley still continues to draw in younger fans despite her outrageous antics (par.9). 

Some parents are having a field day with her music and insisting that the Bangerz tour be shut down, because its inappropriate for young children. Here’s a thought: don’t take young children to a Miley Cyrus concert? I thought that was common sense, but you never know with our generation. 

Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

Miley's concerts are not any different than the hair bands or the heavy metal concerts in the 80s. Some concerts are just not suited for children; plain and simple. There is no need for parents to try and shut down Miley’s tour when the solution is much more simple. Don’t bring kids to her concert. Its Miley’s party and she can do what she wants to. Despite what critics say, April Sperry believes,"that doesn't mean Miley's going to stop twerking anytime soon" (par.10). This being said, Cyrus fans can rest easy. The party won't stop!

Works Cited

"Disgruntled Parents Want Miley Cyrus' 'Bangerz' Tour Shut Down." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

"Surprise! Miley Cyrus' Tour Causing Controversy." U-T San Diego. Utsandiego.com, 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

His Daughter's Name is North, But His Life is Headed South

Chris Taylor

4/20/14

Now I'm not saying that Kim Kardashian is a gold digger, but I still don't understand why she is as famous as she is, or why she would want to marry Kanye West? Actually their probably tying the knot because she got a second opportunity to feature in a sex tape in his new music video for the song “Bound 2”. Or maybe it’s because Kanye was the only person who would agree to name their child, North West…

In case you haven’t had a chance to see the music video, here’s a picture from it, and a link to the video for good measure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBAtAM7vtgc

Image courtesy of wordpress.com

Anyways, Kanye has probably been arguably one of the most genius artists of this generation, but also arguably one of the worst humans that the music industry has seen in a while. Here’s a little side story, when his song “Gold Digger” came out in the mid 2000’s, I was in about the fourth or fifth grade (could have been sixth, who knows). But anyways, in that song, the “n word” is repeated over and over, and being a young, innocent, only child who (obviously) had no older siblings to teach me all of the “swear” words, I would sing this song at the top of my lungs, not understanding not only what the “n word” meant, or even what a gold digger was.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only story that has made Kanye a controversial figure over the course of his interesting career. At the 2009 VMA awards, after Taylor Swift had just received an award for “Best Female Video”, and began to make her speech, Kanye got up on the stage, took the microphone from Taylor, and proceeded to tell the crowd, and the world, that Beyoncé deserved the award. “According to sources at the VMA’s, Swift was seen hysterically crying backstage after Kanye’s outburst, making it convenient that the first part of her performance of ‘You Belong to Me,’ which immediately followed the acceptance speech, was prerecorded.”(Kreps 5) Now had Taylor just kind of laughed this one off, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal and Kanye would have just looked like a complete idiot. But, as we all know from her song lyrics, Taylor is an extremely fragile girl, and this completely crushed her. So instead of looking like an idiot, Kanye just looked like a heartless human making “the love of my life, Taylor Swift” (Chris Taylor), cry, and that’s not okay. Here's a picture of Kanye at '09 awards taking Hennessey down like an absolute frat star, and then him taking the microphone away from Taylor...smh.

Image courtesy of welcome2cali.com

 

Image courtesy of eurweb.com

That incident wasn’t even the only time he had an outburst at the VMA’s. In 2007, Kanye had a little temper tantrum backstage because he wasn’t going to be able to perform on the main stage. And according to celebritycafe.com and their “Top 5 Kanye West Outbursts”, Kanye claimed he would never come back to the award show again. (Odejobi 1) Instead, he came back with a vengeance. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love his music, I love Kanye the artist, but let’s just put it this way, if my daughter brought him home to meet me, I would punch him in the face without hesitation. Kanye West in my mind is without a doubt one of the worst human beings ever to surface the entertainment world. Oh and here’s the video of his 2007 freak-out in case you wanted a good laugh. What a jack-a**. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1mlivyaL9g

Kreps, Daniel. "Kanye West Storms the VMAs Stage During Taylor Swift's Speech." Rolling Stone. N.p., 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Odejobi, Lola. "Kanye West Goes off Backstage at the 2007 VMA Awards." Top 5 Kanye West Outbursts. N.p., 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

 

K-Dot's Kingdom: The "Control" from Compton to NYC

(Courtesy of Google Images)

(Courtesy of Google Images)

K-Dot’s Kingdom: The “Control” from Compton to NYC 

Article By: Francesco Torricelli

In August of 2013, Hip Hop and the Rap world were turned upside down by the heated lyrics of TDE rapper, Kendrick Lamar, in Big Sean's "Control" track.  Kendrick took the feature as an opportunity to express his opinions on the genre and lifestyles of his peers while simultaneously calling them out to do better.  These lyrics solidified his title as the "King of Hip Hop".

Now, Kendrick's movement didn't start with the whole uprising of the "Control Controversy" so to speak.   In 2013, K-Dot solidified himself as a solo artist with the release of the his album, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City".  The album, getting the validation it deserved, was named the Best Rap album of 2013 at the BET awards. According to aceshowbiz.com, Kendrick also won:

(Courtesy of Google Images)

• Lyricist of the Year
• Best New Artist
• Best Male Artist
• Best Collaboration: "F---in Problems"

This resume of awards and heightened publicity put Kendrick at the top. The very top.  He was now the true King of Hip Hip, not just the West Coast but all over the U.S.  Later on in the year Kendrick put out his royal decree and boy, did we listen.

Kendrick is the "Top Dawg" in TDE as well as Hip Hop and with his title and lyrics in "Control,"  it doesn't matter if you call out friends and rappers like: Jermaine Cole, Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, ASAP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron, Tyler the Creator, etc to do better in their lifestyles, music. You will get a response.

(Courtesy of Google Images)

 The Big NYC MC's like Jay-Z and Diddy took special offense to Kendrick giving himself the title of "King of New York". But they too fell into the King's trap of giving him what he wanted, a response.  Diddy responded with this:

(Courtesy of Google Images)

According to pastemagazine.com, Kendrick responded to the “King of New York” title on Los Angeles’ Power 106 and New York’s Hot 97 radio stations.  He said, “The people that actually understood it and got it was the actual kings of New York. We've been down with them this past week, and them understanding that it’s not about actually being the King of whatever coast, it’s about leaving the mark as great as Biggie, as great as Pac” (para. 3).  The intent behind the title was to challenge current rappers of both the East and West coast to be the best in the game.

The "Control Controversy", the New King of Hip Hop, the message he wanted to get across: they are all exciting for the game. King Kendrick has "Control" of the right now.  He is the biggest, newest, and most exciting thing in the game right now and no Kingdom should be ruled by someone boring and not afraid to be unique and push the boundaries of what is accepted. A King needs to put something out to the public and get a response and that's what Kendrick does plain and simple.

(Courtesy of Google Images)

Works Cited:

Gosset, Eric. “Kendrick Lamar Speaks Out On Controversial “Control” Verse. PasteMagazine.

            August 29, 2013. Web. April 16, 2014.

"Kendrick Lamar Awards" aceshowbiz.com. n.d. Web. April 18, 2014.

Through the Fire N' Flames



Courtesy of Vulture.com

Courtesy of Google.com

In any fight there is only one winner a loser.

Much like Vin Diesel in the latest Fast and Furious film (Left), The Beastie Boys emerge through the flames victorious (or so they thought).The battle between these two fierce competitors was hard fought; a knock-down-drag-out, round by round fight. However as the dust settles and smoke clears, GoldieBlox has a few reasons to claim victory themselves. They increased their net worth, informed millions of their product and drew sympathy from millions as their case unfolded on the front page. All The Beastie Boys did was unleash their fierce lawyers on to the start-up toy company and hinder their goal of influencing young girls to investigate the wide world of Engineering. Bullies? Anti-Feminists? Call them what you will but one thing is for sure, GoldieBlox DID NOT lose this fight!!

 

Any sensible person understands the entire goal of an advertisement is to draw attention to the company it is advertising and increase revenue. When GoldieBlox aired their commercial in the Super Bowl, it caught the attention of millions. It especially grabbed the attention of The Beastie Boys and their money hungry lawyers. According to their website traffic, GoldieBlox has more than

tripled in net worth since the beginning of the conflict with The Beastie Boys(GoldieBlox.com).



Courtesy of Freewebsitereport.com

 

 

The lawsuit did more for GoldieBlox than the actual commercial itself did. Maybe the producers had planned for The Beastie Boys to take legal action against them...I mean seriously who creates a parody of a song by a group notorious for parody lawsuits!! After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity, especially if the publicity is free...

Courtesy of Huffingtonpost.com

 The average price for a 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl can run upwards of 4.5 million dollars. The game, by many, is labeled as the commercial central. Many people can't even name the teams playing in the game but can identify every single commercial they saw. GoldieBlox, having won the Intuit Commercial Challenge, received their broadcast completely free. Combine this with the free publicity from the court case and GoldieBlox was able to reach millions of people with spending very little in expenses...accounting and advertising geniuses!! GoldieBlox has to feel as if they hit the lottery with that commercial.

Courtesy of Twistedsifter.com

 

So although The Beastie Boys tried to prevent GoldieBlox from profiting through the use of their parody, GoldieBlox earns the knockout in this fight and here is why:

 

1. GoldieBlox knowingly created a parody of a song by a group infamous for legal battles over parodies. This was more than likely a trap for The Beastie Boys to sue the start-up company and create more free publicity.

Round One goes to GoldieBlox

 

2. The Beastie Boys, known as legal bullies, sued GoldieBlox, personified as three harmless little girls. In this image juxtaposition, GoldieBlox gains sympathy and support from many people, which translates to dollar signs.

Round Two goes to GoldieBlox

 

3. Legally speaking, The Beastie Boys win this battle as the parody is clearly a violation of the fair use clause. With their legal experience, there is no way The Beastie Boys could lose this fight.

Round Three goes to The Beastie Boys.

 

This fight card clearly favors GoldieBlox. Looks as if The Beastie Boys picked on the wrong girls...

Courtesy of Twistedsifter.com

 Sources:
"Ask a Lawyer: Who Has the Better Case, the Beastie Boys or GoldieBlox?" Vulture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Eridon, Cory. "Beastie Boys Have a "Girls" Problem: Goldieblox Video Brings on Copyright Issues." Beastie Boys Have a "Girls" Problem: Goldieblox Video Brings on Copyright Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

"Goldieblox.com." Estimated Traffic Net Worth $37,337 by Freewebsitereport.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Grenoble, Ryan. "Muhammad Ali Dodges 21 Punches, Does A Delightful Victory Dance." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Bad Publicity? Not For Miley Anyways.

Courtesy of Liberty Voice

I have always been a fan of Miley's music while she was in Tennessee and after when she moved to California and started her new lifestyle (first picture on pg).  But there exists more than a few reasons why I think Miley Cyrus is putting our upcoming generation of kids at risk to become unmanageable. 

Too many people are inspired by her in the wrong ways. Her wannabe lifestyle split into segments of hipster, hippy, gangsta, and sloot, have motivated some of my family members that "We can't stop." This meaning that, the limits of society's properness my generation has breached, will also be broken by my kids on an unimaginable level. As much as I hate to turn down on the weekend, I don't want to see my little sister at UT next year, half naked in a bunny suit twerking on a fraternal Robin Thicke.

Miley's performance at the VMAs was quite extraordinary. Kate Dries writes, "It was jarring because, as opposed to the random, half-nude models we're used to seeing prance around Robin Thicke, we were watching a 20-year-old woman — a household name, someone we 'know' — play the object in Thicke's sexy sex dream" (par. 8). The fine line that every human knows between sexy and ratchet has been picked up and currently being used as a jump rope by Miley Cyrus, and now anyone that knows Miley wants to double dutch with her. 

We need to make sure that our party in the USA doesn't turn into a wrecking ball that can't stop the sensual limits keeping something called appropriate in our human nature. 

Don't get me wrong, Miley can come hang out in her Bunny Suit with me whenever she pleases, but when it comes to who else I want to view our private party, I wouldn't reveal our encounter to an audience, such as the VMAs. 

Although most guys won't admit Miley's explicitness in her work, affecting the America's youths' actions, and vice versa for ladies, we should all understand the reality of her "effectiveness," and the expectations that follow.

Courtesy of Twisted Sifter

The necessity for such an influential artist to keep in mind that young girls and boys view her as an idol has to be present. I think Miley is going through the peek of her fame, and feels that nothing can halt her success as a celebrity. Whether this is true or not, her success also comes with the way that she is molding the minds of those that watch her. 

Works Cited:

Dries, Kate. Vulture. 27 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Stewart, Dodai. Jezebel. Huffington Post, 21 Jun. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.