NIN, Copyright, Remixes, Lawyers

[Mark Bassett]

Words: Trent Reznor, from www.nin.com

19 November 2007: Copyright Fun

Several years ago I persuaded my record company to let me begin posting my master recording files on nin.com, in order to see what kind of user-generated content would materialize from my music. I had no agenda… the main reason I did it was because I thought it was cool and something I would have liked to do if it was available to me. A lot of really fun stuff started to happen….communities developed, web sites were created, even traditional radio got in the game and began playing the fans' mixes. I felt the experiment, despite not having a specific purpose, was a success. So much so that we're now releasing a remix album that includes some of this fan-created material as well as the actual multitrack master files for every song from my latest record, Year Zero.

One piece was missing to me and that was an official nin.com presence for aggregating all of the fan-created remixes. Several intrepid fans had stepped up and done a great job providing a destination for people to post these, but I felt all along this was a function I should more directly support. So, upon release of this new remix album, our plan has been to launch an official site on nin.com that would provide a place for all fan remix material and other interactive fan experiences.

Or so I thought.

On Saturday morning I became aware of a legal hitch in our plans. My former record company and current owner of all these master files, Universal, is currently involved in a lawsuit with other media titans Google (YouTube) and News Corp (MySpace). Universal is contending that these sites do not have what is referred to as "safe harbor" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and therefore are in copyright violation because users have uploaded music and video content that is owned by Universal. Universal feels that if they host our remix site, they will be opening themselves up to the accusation that they are sponsoring the same technical violation of copyright they are suing these companies for. Their premise is that if any fan decides to remix one of my masters with material Universal doesn't own - a "mash-up", a sample, whatever - and upload it to the site, there is no safe harbor under the DMCA (according to Universal) and they will be doing exactly what MySpace and YouTube are doing. This behavior may get hauled out in court and impact their lawsuit. Because of this they no longer will host our remix site, and are insisting that Nine Inch Nails host it. In exchange for this they will continue to let me upload my Universal masters and make them available to fans, BUT shift the liability of hosting them to me. Part of the arrangement is having user licenses that the fans sign (not unlike those on MySpace or You Tube) saying they will not use unauthorized materials. If they WERE to do such a thing, everybody sues everybody and the world abruptly ends.

While I am profoundly perturbed with this stance as content owners continue to stifle all innovation in the face of the digital revolution, it is consistent with what they have done in the past. So... we are challenged at the last second to find a way of bringing this idea to life without getting splashed by the urine as these media companies piss all over each other’s feet. We have a cool and innovative site ready to launch but we're currently scratching our heads as to how to proceed.
More to come….

By the way, the potential implications of a lawsuit like this one go well beyond creating hurdles for a Nine Inch Nails remix site. Here is an excerpt from technology site Ars Technica regarding a similar lawsuit Viacom has filed against YouTube:

The DMCA's Safe Harbor provisions aren't just important to video sharing sites; they're important to almost every sector of Internet-based business.
"Nearly every major Internet company depends on the very same legal foundation that YouTube is built on," said von Lohmann. "A legal defeat for YouTube could result in fundamental changes to its business, potentially even making it commercially impossible to embrace user-generated content without first 'clearing' every video. In other words, a decisive victory for Viacom could potentially turn the Internet into TV, a place where nothing gets on the air until a cadre of lawyers signs off," he said. "More importantly, a victory for Viacom could potentially have enormous implications for Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, MySpace, and many other Internet companies, because they all rely on the same DMCA Safe Harbors to protect many facets of their businesses, as well. The stakes are high all around."

Indeed.

[astrovic]

Well speaking for the lawyers in the room (hopefully there aren't too many!), when you have to give your advice with one eye firmly on your professional indemnity policy, you always find yourself offering the safest, most prudent advice you can lest a negligence lawsuit hit you between the eyes. And big company execs - looking to hedge every decision they make by getting "legal" advice on it - aren't inspired to be big risk takers unless there's big $$$ involved. Which, of course, is very boring and means brick walls are hit when art and business collide. I can understand Trent getting pissed off (but then, isn't that what he does for a living? :D)

[Howard Jones]

I like discussing issues with clients and am happy to give informal advice. When it moves from informal to formal, when the client wants written documentation, when I sense that something more is being asked of me; that's when the deeply conservative comes out.

"Oh yes, this is likely to cost you a lot. Hmm, I don't know if this is worth repairing" etc etc.

[rick]

the way i carry on my life eventually somebody somewhere is going to figure they have
something to gain by suing me .
when it happens no matter what the $ figure i will make sure the wished they did not "give it a try"

my first line of defence and my last line of defence will be
i was telling the truth, acting honourably with good intent.
if something somewhere gets me unstuck - so be it .

and in reality the way things are going with the world and the so called "risks"
we all take
( err ...i call them decisions and taking responsibility for my own actions..... )

well if i do come unstuck well that will be the day i will change to being a non commiting type guy .



i get somebody threatening they will sue me over the content of this web site about every two months ,
so from time to time i may clip a post or two because somebody is hurting over the content , but if its true , if its going to help the next guy from taking a fall and if it is not costing my core business more then the hosting fee
and a bit of "computer nerd time"

f@#$ it i say - communication is the key , not litigation

i am scared of landmines and loaded guns , not lawyers and empty threats


of course i may get done over by the spelling and gramma police , but that just comes with the territory :)

[Kris]

The last breaths of a dying beast.

Kicking and screaming is only making the wound spill more blood.

Someone please step in and just shoot the damn thing.

[TimS]

The last breaths of a dying beast.

Kicking and screaming is only making the wound spill more blood.

Someone please step in and just shoot the damn thing.

BAM, and it's gone..

;)
Excuse the pun..

[chris p]

i get somebody threatening they will sue me over the content of this web site about every two months

Well, if they ever do, there's no shortage of lawyers on the forum who'd be happy to help :-)

Defend you, that is.

"Communication not Litigation" - now there's a good name for an album.