Megaupload Suing Universal Over Pulled YouTube Video

[James Crook]

The next time someone tells me that singing about videogames is cringey, or calls me a sellout, I'm going to show them that Megaupload video.

What has the music business come to?

Seriously, every single person cited in this article is at wrong: the "artists" for being complete sellouts, Universal for overstepping its boundaries, and Megaupload for encouraging sellouts.

 

[Xanthious]

Oh the delicious irony of a bunch of music "artists" singing about a site that's widely used for piracy. That's too fucking funny. I bet The Pirate Bay or Demonoid could find some more work for them if they are still looking. Maybe they could get together and make their next video singing the praises of Usenet.

 

[Amnestic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Eye

I fucking loved the 'cake' sequence. Comedy gold.

Which does seem rather strange considering that, at around the 25 second mark, he stares earnestly into the camera and says "When I gotta' send files across the globe, I use Megaupload." Presumably that just came up in regular conversation.

Oh, all the time. Sometimes I'm just walking about and people will be all "Hey, what up Amnestic?" and I'll be all "When I gotta send files across the globe, I use Megaupload!" And then people video tape me and steal my soul words. It's really annoying! I totally sympathise with will.i.am. This isn't a laughing matter.

 

[DTWolfwood]

So y exactly did Will.i.am sing that line if he never wanted it to be seen? what that megaupload just wanted to waste everyones time and money?

Well this case should be settled pretty quickly.

Heres hoping they don't open up another can of worms. I have premium on Megaupload. (the only file sharing client that doesn't cap free dl speeds and can give me a full 6.25MB/s download)

 

[OniaPL]

What has the music business come to?

*sigh* It is quite sad how artists become "sellouts".

Now, that whole term is completely overused, but there are some cases where I feel like it's appropriate. Is it a bad thing that the artists do something because they want to make money? No. But when the artists "betray their own lyrics" and former attitude, I can't help but feel... disappointed. When the artists sell out, the song loses the meaning...
Of course they are all humans, but all I am asking for as a listener is that they stand by their lyrics, and their message.

Once, Kanye West did songs like this where he is basically saying that he won't bend over for the cash: http://bit.ly/13ZEag
Now he appears in a MegaUpload ad...

*sigh*

Now, one is not a sellout if s/he sings about one thing, no matter what it is, and then changes the things s/he sings about later on. Like I said, sellout is someone who betrays his/her own lyrics/cause...

 

[NeoAC]

A second takedown notice came from will.i.am, bespectacled member of infuriating pop-rap-goblin-horde The Black Eyed Peas. According to his attorney, will.i.am never gave permission for his appearance in the video. Which does seem rather strange considering that, at around the 25 second mark, he stares earnestly into the camera and says "When I gotta' send files across the globe, I use Megaupload." Presumably that just came up in regular conversation.

I've always said that William (No, I'm not putting the dang periods in there. That is stupid.) was one of the biggest sellouts in the music business, kowtowing to whoever paid him the most money. Nice to know I just got some more ammo for my arsenal.

 

[Roserari]

Yeah, that sums it up quite perfectly.

 

[BeerTent]

I like the term "Sellout."

Seriously, what the flying fuck do you people think these people went in the damn business for? Dicks? Waffles? The new fancy Megastar Fireworks system?

No, it couldn't be money. Wanting to eat would make them a sellout!

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I'd say everyone here is a sellout... but at the same time, I'm glad they're standing up for their right to upload videos..,. hu.

 

[Irridium]

Has anyone bothered asking, you know, the actual artists? Why don't we ask Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Macy Grey about this? Or even Gin Wingmore, she might find all this interesting.

So yeah, anyone thought of just asking them? Don't the artist's opinions matter since apparently that's who Universal is trying to "protect"?

 

[Fappy]

The next time someone tells me that singing about videogames is cringey, or calls me a sellout, I'm going to show them that Megaupload video.

What has the music business come to?

Pretty sure the music business has been this way since before I was born >.>

 

[seraphy]

Hahhah.

I truly hope Mega upload is correct here and they get punch of money from universal. Would be so funny.

 

[saregos]

More to the point -
none of this is copyrighted by Universal or the artists. It's a classic "work for hire" dispute, and at best Megaupload violated contract law.

Which has nothing to do with the DMCA... so Universal did, in fact, falsely send a DMCA takedown for content they don't own.

Par for the course, from the industry that censors blogs for an entire year at a time without a whiff of due process. I hope they get smacked down hard on this, but I doubt they will - Faking DMCA takedowns, while illegal, is sadly rarely punished by the courts.

 

[Drake666]

More to the point -
none of this is copyrighted by Universal or the artists. It's a classic "work for hire" dispute, and at best Megaupload violated contract law.

Which has nothing to do with the DMCA... so Universal did, in fact, falsely send a DMCA takedown for content they don't own.

Par for the course, from the industry that censors blogs for an entire year at a time without a whiff of due process. I hope they get smacked down hard on this, but I doubt they will - Faking DMCA takedowns, while illegal, is sadly rarely punished by the courts.

The point is they should be punished.
Nobody should have a product, a shop, an ad or anything they produced removed from the public eyes because someone lied about it. It's an unethical business conduct.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

...singing an ode to popular fire-sharing service Megaupload...

Is that the same one Prometheus used?

On-topic, though: All this over a ridiculous advertisement for a site that hardly needs any advertisement?

 

[esperandote]

It's kinda catchy. How come only africanamerican people and kim cardashian? I refuse to believe that they use that service as much as they're claiming.

 

[RatRace123]

Ah, Universal you do so love throwing your weight around don't you?

I wonder how long until every single video on Youtube is pulled for some stupid reason or another, not long I expect, they're kinda on a kick lately.

 

[Calatar]

What Megaupload probably didn't tell the performers was that, of its 50 million-plus daily users, a rather large proportion are of the rum, parrots and scurvy-appreciating persuasion. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement]

Citation Needed

What kind of "large proportion" are we talking here?
Megaupload has to submit to DMCA requests, same as youtube or any other website. What evidence is there that a large proportion of their content is illegal? The top 100 downloads (as shown on the website) are all legal.

 

[Zen Toombs]

If Universal had no real right to have YouTube take down the video as

"They were claiming she was in the video when she wasn't," said Megaupload's attorney, Ira Rothken.

implies, then I hope Megaupload takes Universal down hard. I don't like abuses of power.

Amused Toombs is greatly amused.

 

[Something Amyss]

This was never about copyrights or even what's right. It's about Universal getting their way.

Bullying people is a common tactic amidst the RIAA, MPAA, and video game industry.

OT: I'm sort of confused as to what revenue they are going to be suing to get back. I mean, I guess they have premium accounts, but I typically don't drop subscription money on the word of P. Diddy and his pals.

I don't buy anything because of celebrity endorsement, period. However, celebrities do advertisements for a reason, and companies pay them to do advertisements for a reason. What you or I might do doesn't change the value.