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ASCAP Starts To Act Like the RIAA

Posted by kdawson on from the rebrand-as-ashattery dept.

Scott Lockwood writes "Below Average Dave, a Dr. Demento style parody artist, has been shut down by the ASCAP. This collective, acting as badly as the RIAA, is now attempting to ignore the 2 Live Crew Supreme Court decision that parodies are new derivative works. Just like the RIAA, ASCAP seems intent on misrepresents the law. If you know anyone who can help BA Dave in his plight, please contact him." This artist doesn't have the resources to fight the ASCAP, even though the law is pretty clearly on his side. Anyone at the EFF or the ACLU interested?

3 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. Paging Ray Beckerman by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you know anyone who can help BA Dave in his plight, please contact him.

    Number of certified lawyers that read Slashdot: 5.

    Number who actually give a shit: 1.

    Paging Ray Beckerman alias NewYorkCountryLawyer.

    --
    My work here is dung.
  2. Re:Soap box, ballot box, and jury box have failed. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then, what should I do if I'm an aspiring musician, and I'd like to draw on some of my cultural heritage -- and yes, copyright lasts so insanely long that we are talking about cultural heritage here -- and these thugs come and sue me?

    In other words: What do we do about The Grey Album?

    For that matter, as part of my "boycott", should I stop singing Happy Birthday?

    Fuck no. I will not spend my life avoiding our culture because it happens to be owned by a few corporations. I will continue to assert that this is our culture, not theirs.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  3. Re:Starting? by Bellegante · · Score: 5, Insightful

    [quote]When you play a songwriter's composition in a way that makes you money (such as attracting customers), you owe that songwriter a cut. [/quote]

    Why? No, seriously, why? It doesn't take money from the people who made the music, it doesn't even deny them CD sales in the way that piracy could theoretically do (though there is no hard evidence that it does).

    The reason the stupid copyright law exists in the first place is to benefit the people! It isn't so that you can claim profit from each and every rendition of a song throughout space and time. A cover band playing a professional song will never detract from the professional group's funds, and I defy you to find anything to the contrary.

    Explain the moral obligation society has to pay an artist for every single performance of work that he originated, please.