Sue You: This Song Is Our Song (Guthrie Parody Copyright C & D)

[NashVegas]

But while about 25 million viewers have been clogging JibJab to chuckle at the film's South Park-like Flash animation and juvenile insults (Bush labels Kerry a "liberal sissy," and Kerry responds by calling Bush a "right-wing nut job"), the Spiridellises aren't exactly laughing their way back to the drawing board.

In the wake of their short's popularity, which began soon after its July 9 Web release and has been punctuated by appearances and mentions on almost every major U.S. news show, the brothers found themselves in a legal skirmish with Ludlow Music, which, Ludlow attorney Paul LiCalsi said, owns the copyright to Guthrie's famous tune.

Ludlow Music is a unit of music publisher The Richmond Organization. JibJab Media, the proper name of the Spiridellises' company, never got permission to use Guthrie's song in This Land, and Ludlow Music is telling them to pull down the short.

About a week ago, the brothers were served with a cease-and-desist order on behalf of Ludlow Music, demanding they remove This Land from their website. LiCalsi said Ludlow has not filed a lawsuit yet against JibJab and hopes to resolve the case without taking that step.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64376,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

[Krupskaya]

1. Oh, too bad.

I think Guthrie himself would have really gotten a kick out of it. /MNSHO

[rfkrocks]

3. But Orrin Hatch won't like it!!

He will cry "sue!!"

[Citizen Daryl]

2. Parody is fair use, damn it.

And people wonder why I have absolutely no sympathy for the music industry. It's fair use, they KNOW it's fair use, and yet they pull this bullshit.

[Karenina]

4. Hmmm...

"Fair Use" endangered?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2094099

[BiggJawn]

5. Can somebody "open secret" Ludlow and LiCalsi?

Think you'd see any surprises?
I bet they're both huge Shrub donors.

[Lisa]

6. "Something is not a parody..."

"...when there is no function of critique or comment on the original work."

Oh, really! I'd say the spoof is dripping with parody! It's "critiquing and commenting" on the state of American society today, using Guthrie's original song as a takeoff point.

The Ludlow people should read the entire set of lyrics for the song, as published in the 1940s:

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/3448/thisl1.html

Note that Guthrie is juxtaposing idealized patriotic imagery with harsh, unjust reality. The 1950s version only has the pleasant stuff in it -- itself an interesting commentary on the time, given the McCarthy era -- and I think the "prettified" song actually seems shallow compared to the original. The JibJab spoof is poking fun at the sanitized later lyrics, in particular -- politicians of all types love to invoke patriotism with those kinds of images (especially the Bush administration).

Very postmodern. If people don't mind me going off on a tangent like a typical cultural studies theorist ... in a way, JibJab is trying to return the song to its original roots. They're using a catchy tune and sentimental associations (especially with the 1950s version) to turn people's attention to the shortcomings of both sides, and the whole trend towards polarization and oversimplification in political debates. It's much more faithful to the concept of satire than simple "filking" (writing unrelated new words).

(Oh, and if the JibJab people or their lawyers are reading this and like my argument, I give you full permission to use it.)

[bobbyboucher]

7. I thought it sucked anyway.

Good.

[LisaM]

8. I thought the tune was an older one and that Woody just wrote new words

Edited to add link

I swear I read that somewhere, and pretty recently. I'll see if I can find it.

I found several references to the tune coming from "Little Darling Pal of Mind" by the Carter family.

http://www.nwfolk.com/songlists/woody_guthrie.html