pathetic. desperate. insane.




http://www.google.com/hos...AD9AKO0C00


Record companies sue 'Ellen' show over copyrights
By TRAVIS LOLLER (AP) – 1 hour ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Some of the world's largest recording companies are suing "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," claiming producers violated their copyrights by playing more than 1,000 songs without permission.

Many of the songs were played during the "dance over" segment of the show, when DeGeneres dances from the stage to the interview area, often through the audience.

According to the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, when representatives of the recording companies asked defendants why they hadn't obtained licenses to use the songs, defendants said they didn't "roll that way."

"As sophisticated consumers of music, Defendants knew full well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act, and under state law for the pre-1972 recordings, they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully," the suit states.

Scott Rowe, spokesman for the show's Telepictures Productions, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the company has been working with the record labels for months to resolve the issue and remains willing to resolve it on "amicable and reasonable terms."

Rowe said the issue does not involve DeGeneres, who on Wednesday was named as the fourth judge on TV's "American Idol," and whom Rowe calls "a tremendous music enthusiast and advocate."

The suit claims the daytime talk show has used copyrighted music without permission since its inception, including "recordings by virtually every major current artist of popular music." It claims the show routinely used some of the most popular songs of the day, which the record labels don't license for daytime television at any price.

Other songs cited in the lawsuit include Michael Jackson's "Thriller"; The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It."

The suit calls the segment and the music played by the show's own disc jockey "signature elements of the show."

Plaintiffs include Arista Music, Atlantic Recording Corp., Capitol Records, Motown Record Company, Sony Music Entertainment, Virgin Records America and Warner Bros. Records.

The suit does not specify the dollar amount it seeks in damages.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Timmy84 said:

Yea same response 2, the show has been on 4 6 years and this is just news now?

missmad said:

This is comedy anyways.

I like the producers' response of "that's not how we roll"

Give me a f**kin' break. I see it as free promotion.

DJ506 said:

Well we have an industry that's been stuck on stupid for how many years? This will get thrown out for statue of limitations. Seven years?

Wouldn't it make sense to have gotten permission for this?

As much as I loathe the labels, they have a point. Ellen's show is essentially making $$ (attracting viewership) in part (and obviously to a very small degree) on music created and owned by others. They should get permission, it sets a dangerous precedent for the record labels.

That said, the labels are already seen as villains by the vast majority of consumers and i can't imagine this will help their reputation any.

someone should sue whoever wrote "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"

japanrocks said:

Didn't Will write it?

Boy, these motherfuckers are getting desperate for money these days. I guess if "Soul Train" or "American Bandstand" were still around today, they would be sued right into the very fires of hell.

There used to be a time when they were glad for their songs to be featured in shows because it helped increase their sales.
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[Edited 9/10/09 20:34pm]

Timmy84 said:

Lmao did he pay sister sledge and Bernard and Nile?

japanrocks said:

DJ506 said:

Exactly.The record labels are so freakin' clueless Don't they realize that,when Ellen plays a song on her show,thousands of viewers are watching? The song is getting free promotion!

SoulAlive said:

people do not understand that the people that are running the music business know nothing about the business. The real cats are either dead or retired and This would never happen if Wexler or Ahmet were still in the game sadly those 2 are gone.

IAintTheOne said:

In this era of declining CD sales and video channels that don't even show videos anymore,you'd think that the record labels would want the music to be promoted in every way possible Ellen was doing them a favor and they're too stupid to realize it!

Law is law.....they should have paid like everyone else.

Graycap23 said:

It sounds like the producers were very arrogant when it was suggested that they should pay for using these songs. I'm sure that some artists would have granted her free use of the songs (if possible, no?) sine the promotion would be great. However, from what I heard when music people called the show about not paying, I guess the response was "That's how we roll".

SoulAlive said:

Thank you. NBC should pay up immediately: Ellen should ask independent artist/musicians to submit their music for her show opener and play their shit. Don't even bother to talk about the lawsuite, don't explain nor complain and move on.

This lawsuit is just another example of how clueless and out of touch the recording industry is.Their stupidity is the reason why the music business is dying.

how long does she play a song? is it 30 seconds or less?

errant said:

I've watched the show before. It has to be about a minute. Sometimes she does this thing where she walks over a desk and that makes the song last longer.

vainandy said:

If MTV was anything like they were throughout the 80's, the RIAA would have sue them as well.