Glee Airs Performance of Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back"

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Glee Airs Performance of Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back"


Glee refused to credit Jonathan Coulton for its version of his song, stating he should be "happy for the exposure."

Last week, a recording of "Baby Got Back" that a Youtube poster claimed was from an upcoming episode of Glee "I am pretty angry" on Twitter [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121601-Glee-Rips-Off-Jonathan-Coulton], elaborating on his blog this morning.

According to Jonathan Coulton, the show's policy is not to credit "covers of covers," so it's seemingly not unusual for Glee to air a performance without acknowledging its performer. Instead, he was told that he should be "happy for the exposure." "They do not credit me, and have not even publicly acknowledged that it's my version - so you know, it's kind of SECRET exposure," he wrote. Coulton also stated that Glee doesn't seem to be legally obligated to pay or credit him, but he's still investigating whether or not the show used his audio, which he thinks is likely.

The Glee performance of "Baby Got Back" is also now available in the U.S. iTunes store [https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/baby-got-back-glee-cast-version/id592420108], accompanied by some one-star customer reviews upset about the show ripping off Coulton's version of the song.

Though Coulton may not legally have a case against Glee, he thanked fans for their support and requested that they "please continue not to burn anything down." If he can prove that Glee used his audio, he might still have a legal foot to stand on, but for now the cast of Glee will go unpunished. Well, aside from having to be on Glee.

Source: Jonathan Coulton [http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2013/01/18/baby-got-back-and-glee/]

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[Orange12345]

He should release an album where he does all the glee songs

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

but for now the cast of Glee will go unpunished. Well, aside from having to be on Glee.

Surely it's FOX, or Glee's musical director(s?) and/or producers fault, not so much the cast?

 

[Frozengale]

"happy for the exposure"

What perfect little douchebags these people are.

 

[Daveman]

Scumbags. All of them are scumbags. I now have to upgrade my rating of Glee once again. Initially it was rated at "bad" and progressed to "harmful to society" and now I'll have to go up to "evil".

 

[Micah Weil]

I...may be missing something here,
How can he be "happy for the exposure" when they're not crediting him?

 

[zaheela]

So when the dead eyed tween starts asking if mr Colton ripped off glee and omg is he a fan comments pop up, should we be ok with that?

Seriously, if I hear that, I'm going to consider tying them to a chair and playing a history of modern music series for them. Hopefully it'll reverse the brain cell loss from the glee-ification process.

Originally I was considering using stairs and gravity, but I don't want to give fox any ammo.

 

[Not Matt]

................... Motherf***ers.
I would love to scream and shout at curse. But if I said what was really on my mind the MODs would ban me. So just imagine me giving the glee writers a finger. A finger the size of a medium size elephant

 

[Kirov Reporting]

Stay classy, FOX.

"Human decency and common courtesy? Hey Carol, are we legally obliged to be decent about this? Look it up, I'll wait.

No? Sweet.. Yeah, hi, Mr Coulton? Eat it."

 

[xptn40S]

It's an odd world we're living in, when in the less than common case of someone's content actually being infringed upon for once (if the news here on the Escapist are anything to go by), the creator of said content can't do shit.

Also, "he should be "happy for the exposure."" (in this context), has to be one of the most incompetent and at the same time arrogant things I've ever heard anyone say, and if that comment can't be used against them in some way, then I don't know what the hell can.

 

[Something Amyss]

I was kind of hoping to see Coulton sue, so people would actually see the courts shoot him down and understand how this works.

He should release an album where he does all the glee songs

Yes, but why would he want to do mediocre covers? I mean, did you see that horrible arrangement of "Baby Got Back" they did?

Surely it's FOX, or Glee's musical director(s?) and/or producers fault, not so much the cast?

You make it sound like the show is not real or something, and those people don't directly control either the content or the credit.

IS MY WHOLE WORLD A LIE?

So when the dead eyed tween starts asking if mr Colton ripped off glee and omg is he a fan comments pop up, should we be ok with that?

You DO know this was a major thing before Glee, right? Just ask Queen, Joan Jett, the Who, Don Henley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan...And they all got credit. Well, unless you count "Ice Ice Baby," but I was thinking of other Queen songs like "We Will Rock You."

................... Motherf***ers.
I would love to scream and shout at curse. But if I said what was really on my mind the MODs would ban me. So just imagine me giving the glee writers a finger. A finger the size of a medium size elephant

Why are the writers getting your ire?

 

[Kirov Reporting]

Also, "he should be "happy for the exposure."" (in this context), has to be one of the most incompetent and at the same time arrogant things I've ever heard anyone say, and if that comment can't be used against them in some way, then I don't know what the hell can.

Exactly. I'd love to know if they feel 'happy for the exposure' when people illegally download their shows. After all, they might show a friend who might buy it.

Yeah, they'll see it like that too, won't they?

Ill chosen words indeed, callous and condescending.

 

[Deathninja19]

I would love to comment but I can't get past 10 seconds of that awful video so I would have no idea if they ripped it off or not.

 

[theApoc]

I wonder if Sir-Mixalot got his money in either case?

 

[Quaxar]

Woah.

On an unrelated note, I'm now working on a show called Squee, where a group of ragtag high school kids painstakingly repaint classical works of art.
I take it not crediting Glee is going to be fine as well?

 

[The Great JT]

As if I needed another reason to hate Glee (you know, besides dragging down the music industry further), they came up with a legitimate reason!

And JoCo, you got a legal foot to stand on here, man. If you don't call 'em out, they will keep doing this!

 

[ex951753]

Never seen glee before...*clicks on vid*...the f*** did I just watch?! Excuse me as I go pour bleach in my eyes.

 

[frobalt]

I wonder if Sir-Mixalot got his money in either case?

I was wondering that too. I mean, surely they'd have to ask the original artist at least, right?

What's mostly annoying me about this, though, is: Even if they don't legally have to ask for his permission, or even give him credit where credit's due, they should have anyway purely cos it's the decent thing to do. Unfortunately, capitalism doesn't work like that. Capitalism means people will get whatever they can and not give a shit about who it negatively affects.