EMI Sues Def Jam Rapstar Devs

[Weaver]

I'm pretty sure if Vanilla Ice can basically just copy paste under pressure and get away with it there really shouldn't be a problem here.

 

[BENZOOKA]

That just shows how absolutely ridiculous the business with copyrights has gone.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Must give credit to the screenshot btw, 'Cash rules everything around me'.

EMI HQ.

'Boss, we're coming in about $8 million under budget this month.'
'Really? I guess we could dig out that tenuous lawsuit someone in legal mentioned about an old game everyone's forgotten, I reckon we could demand eight big ones for that, after all, it must have sold eight copies, and games are a million bucks each right?'

'Sure thing, boss, it's that or actually go out and invest in and promote some new talent, and honestly make some money.'

*both* 'hahahahaha'.

 

[TheSYLOH]

However, the music industry has seen something like an 80% drop in revenue. While piracy is still a contested loss of income in gaming, it has had a very real and detrimental effect on the music industry. Albums simply aren't selling as well as they used to, which is why it's such a big deal when someone like Adele actually manages to break multi-million sales figures. It's not surprising that a company like EMI would be so quick to try and grab any potential lost profits when the industry as a whole is tanking along on empty fumes.

This is roughly equivalent to saying, "This man just lost his job, so it's fine that he just robbed a liquor store" The Recording Industry continues to cling to a model of business that a dinosaur in this day and age. It's like if the horse drawn carriage industry tried to stay alive by suing people. The fact is that they're running on fumes because:
A)Nobody buys CD's anymore. Why drive out to a store, when you can just click on Itunes.
B) Artists don't want to lose 90% of the profits to a record label when they can just distribute in other ways.
C) The out put from the majority of big labels has been derivative junk.

More importantly, we don't know what the deal is with this game. It may well be that the developers of Def Jam didn't get the rights to the songs they wanted to put in. Which would be a pretty big fucking deal. You don't make a music game, then make profits of that game, without giving money to the record companies and artists who hold the rights to the very songs you're using. Activision always made sure to pay the artists for Guitar Hero. EA always made sure to pay the appropriate royalties for Rock Band. As scummy as record labels are, at least they're stepping in here if a developer is trying to make a fats buck without paying the due royalties on the music they're using.

Except if EMI successfully sues, the artist don't see another dime. All that money goes to EMI and stays there.
Even if they got money, 8 million split up that many ways would be a drop in the bucket compared to concert tickets.
The point of the copyright is to protect THE ARTIST. Here it's protecting nobody, it's just being used as a legal form of extortion.

 

[TheSYLOH]

What model of business are you talking about? Because the last time I checked, every single record label has struck up a deal with iTunes, and has pretty much the collected back catalogue of a hundred years of recorded music available to download. You know, that same sort of digital model which Steam took and turned into a games distribution model?

And last i checked you could publish to itunes without involving a middle man.
So why bother involving a record label at all

A) Plenty of people still buy CDs. It is more of a niche market than it was ten years ago, but I and plenty others still prefer to own a physical copy of the music we buy. The fact that the music industry still caters to us and releases physical copies of albums, often releasing fucking vinyl LPs for the vinyl lovers out there, is not a bad thing. It simply shows that they're willing to cater to a variety of tastes, rather than trying to force everyone to use the same model of business.

B) This is a complete myth. The vast majority of artists still want to be signed to labels, because no-one outside of a select few one-in-a-million examples has managed to make a successful career without some sort of label backing them. Being signed to a label, even an indie label, means you get a guaranteed income to live on, the facilities to write and record your music, and people willing to push your album and try and get it out there. Trying to go it alone means you become one of millions of people cluttering up Youtube and Myspace, trying to grab the attention of anyone willing to look your way and generally struggling to get anywhere above pub gigs. Labels provide finances, facilities, and support. Sure, the major labels may act pretty dickishly to some of their acts, in the same way a AAA publisher can act horribly to its developers. That doesn't mean that smaller, indie labels don't provide a valuable resource to artists.

C) The vast majority of any music from any period is absolute crap. Go back to the seventies and listen to some of the absolutely dreadful manufactured disco/punk/pop shit that was being pushed at the time. Despite what we may think, the 00s are not unique in having horrible, manufactured crap plastered out on the airwaves. This has been true ever since radio was invented. Acting as if this is some new development, and therefore a justification for piracy, is disingenuous at best. There is music being created out there that is as good as anything the 70s or 80s have to offer. You just need to look for it, and to support those artists who make it by buying their records.

A) Emphasis NICHE MARKET there's a niche market for horse drawn carriages too.

B) You can argue that its only a 1 in a million artist who gets picked up for the record label. So far the big labels are just exploiting artist and defining everything they do as "Work for hire"

C) The point though is, that when was the last time a big label released something novel and imaginative, all they've done is stagnate while the indie labels did the actual art

Nope. Every time a song gets licensed, say for an advert, film or game, a royalty is collected by PRS. That royalty is divided between the label, and the writer and performer of the song. Meaning that if a song gets licensed for Def Jam, the license fee for that song will be split between the artist and the label that manages the artist.

Yes LICENSED not SUED.

Ah yes, the good old concert tickets argument.

Here's the thing about concerts. They cost money to get started. Any time a band wants to go on tour, there are a million and one different costs that need to be paid up front in order to get the show on the road:

The band needs to make sure its got roadworthy equipment and instruments. Most likely, a PA will need to either be bought or hired. A sound engineer will need to be hired to manage the sound levels of the concert. Lighting will need to be acquired, and a crew to operate it. A crew of roadies will need to be hired in order to lug everything around. Transport will need to be arranged, and drivers hired to do long distance haulage. Merchandise will need to be produced, and staff hired to work the merch stand.

Bands can't organise this all on promises. Money is needed up-front to get any large scale tour going, the sort that any band with a decent amount of exposure will be doing. Where does that money come from to kick-start the tour? Why, I do believe it comes partly from revenue made through album/song sales.

And again, revenue that can come from regular sales, grass roots, etc, without the big label.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Trying to figure out this mess is giving me a headache. If I am reading this right, 4mm Games and Terminal Reality aren't the only parties that should be named as defendants here. If EMI is looking to get compensation for all their supposed damages, there's going to be a need for more names on that docket, including Universal Music Group.
I would love to see two of the music giants take each other on instead of ignoring each other while they shit on ordinary people for lesser acts. That would be something to get the popcorn out for.

tbh, I kinda want this lawsuit to continue just to see EMI and UMG go at each other.

I know; I'm a cruel person for wanting this, but can't a person have his guilty pleasures?

 

[SycoMantis91]

I'm not sure how you own 10% of a song.

Someone better call EA, cause it looks like EMI has got a bit of a...

*insert avatar*

Def Jam Vendetta

Puns like that will make you an Icon.

You're pretty good too. Maybe you two should Fight for NY

I know. That fucking sucked.

On topic though, reading this and being reminded that there are corporations profiting from art they had no part in creating and then profiting more via lawsuits, where they claim ownership of said art makes me die a little inside.

Well, I think that like these puns make me want to like listen to a Def Jam... Or something... you suck...

 

[samsonguy920]

Trying to figure out this mess is giving me a headache. If I am reading this right, 4mm Games and Terminal Reality aren't the only parties that should be named as defendants here. If EMI is looking to get compensation for all their supposed damages, there's going to be a need for more names on that docket, including Universal Music Group.
I would love to see two of the music giants take each other on instead of ignoring each other while they shit on ordinary people for lesser acts. That would be something to get the popcorn out for.

tbh, I kinda want this lawsuit to continue just to see EMI and UMG go at each other.

I know; I'm a cruel person for wanting this, but can't a person have his guilty pleasures?

The thought of two music giants actually dukeing it out gives me the giggles. Get it on!