Pretty legal

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: - 37 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, Media, national, Politics, same old national, Simon Bridges, social media lolz, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

National seems to have a major problem respecting the property rights of music copyright holders.

There was the great John Key rip off in 2007 when he put out a DVD that had music that sounded suspiciously like Coldplay’s Clocks.

There was 2014 when National used Eminem’s song “Lose yourself” as part of their campaign. They won the election but lost the court case. If only this had been reversed.

Then in 2017 they stole borrowed heavily off Bob Dylan for their last campaign theme.

Each of these incidences involved the use of saccharine loaded songs that resembled the real thing. National was not that stupid as to use the original song.

Until now.

From Tom Dillane and David Fisher at the Herald:

Move over James Corden and Adele, there are some new carpool karaoke divas on the scene in the form of National leader Simon Bridges and MP Chris Bishop – but the promotional stunt may land them in legal strife.

Dashcam footage of the National Party colleagues driving to Parliament was uploaded to Simon Bridges’ Facebook page on Wednesday, and it provides a brief insight into the musical tastes of the pair.

But, the video intended to showcase more of the personal side of the senior National MPs may land their Party in copyright hot water, as a string of famous tunes are played through the stereo of Bishop’s fully electric Nissan LEAF.

Within the three minute clip, songs from music industry heavyweights Elton John, Pearl Jam and Franz Ferdinand are played.

When contacted by the Herald today, National’s chief press secretary Michael Fox said they had now taken down the video as a “precaution”.

“Our view is the songs were covered under the fair use and incidental use provisions in the Copyright Act because the music was being played in the background and only for the purposes of review,” Fox said.

But Copyright lawyer Kevin Glover said there was no such thing as a “fair use” defence in New Zealand and the more appropriate defences would be “incidental copying” or “fair dealing”.

Glover said the music – chosen by Bridges – appeared to have been deliberately included in the recording so would not meet the standard for “incidental copying”.

Glover said the “fair dealing” defence could apply, as it allowed exceptions for those who were offering a critique or review of music, so as to allow short excerpts and commentary about the music.

“The risk on this is, I suppose, they are not talking about the merits of the music but their memories,” Glover said.

The overwhelming impression is two middle aged guys just reliving their youth and engaging in some copyright infringement at the same time.  And it is topped off with the fake drumming.  Fake songs, fake drumming, fake party.

National’s social media really sucks right now.  Where is Crosby Textor when they need them?

37 comments on “Pretty legal”

Comment numbers have changed to permanent references. Older quoted numbers may no longer identify the same comment.

          1. 1.1.2.1.1

            Mcveagh – dodgy relationships between the firm and its female employees.
            Bishop – being fed dodgy information from leaks…

            Link – dodgy

  3. 3

    Mistaking fair use for fair dealing is an absolute beginner’s mistake in NZ copyright law. That their spokesthing wasn’t able to distinguish them shows they simply have no idea. Again.

  4. 4

    Bishop takes both hands off the steering wheel while the car is moving. Maybe police would like to order him to do a defensive driving course…

  6. 6

    “The overwhelming impression is two middle aged guys just reliving their youth and engaging in some copyright infringement at the same time”.

    The overwhelming impression is two middle aged guys – both with LLB(Hons) qualifications – just reliving their youth and engaging in some copyright infringement at the same time.

    FIFY.

    Extracts from their National Party biographies:

    “Chris was born and raised in Lower Hutt, attending Eastern Hutt School, Hutt Intermediate and Hutt International Boys’ School. He has a first class Honours degree in Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University of Wellington, and has been admitted to the Bar as a barrister and solicitor.”

    https://chrisbishop.national.org.nz/about_chris
    ——————

    “Prior to standing for Parliament, Simon was a senior Crown Prosecutor in the District and High Courts. He had been a prosecutor in Tauranga since 2001, working largely on jury trials. He moved to Tauranga from a role as a litigation lawyer in Auckland.

    Simon was educated at the University of Auckland, completing a BA (Political Science and History) and a LLB (Hons). He later completed a Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford, where he met his wife Natalie.”

    https://simonbridges.national.org.nz/about_simon

    What idiots.

  9. 9

    After being whacked with having to stump up 600 k from the cabinet club fund this egotistical tom foolery looks like Bridges two snapper Shearer moment.

    I do believe we are now looking at Amy Adams Xmas turkey.

  10. 10

    Sigh-moan has the emotional stability of someone still wearing short pants, at no point ever should NZers have to pay for his ego-trips.

  11. 11

    I think in this case the use probably CAN be described as “pretty legal”. The internet is full of shit like this. I guess political parties have to be extra careful to avoid the impression of endorsement by the artist though.

  14. 14

    Swamp slime Opposition are doing a great job of confirming how utterly desperate, incompetent and ridiculous they are. Seems along with other murk, Natz is also turning copyright infringement into an art form now.

    BTW now Joyce has departed, who is spinning the Natz BS these days? Could it be the Boag(ey) woman?

    1. 15.1

      Perhaps they are burying the hatchet, over Elton John.

      Perhaps Bishop is showing Bridges that crown limos are not the only way to travel.

      Anyway, luckily that video had to be taken down so that no one else has to see it.

    2. 15.2

      Does this rule out Chris Bishop as National’s leaker?

      Not necessarily. Bridges might suspect it’s Bishop and this is his punishment!! I am sure this will act as a suitable deterrent for any future leaks.

    1. 16.1

      Its in the middle of the story- you must have missed it
      ” Copyright lawyer Kevin Glover said there was no such thing as a “fair use” defence in New Zealand”

      And the circumstances dont allow the other similar situations as they werent ‘reviewing the music’

  17. 17

    National showing just how competent their two guys with legal degrees are at legal matters. Did they get their legal degrees out of a packet of Weetbix?

      1. 17.1.1

        adverb informal
        adverb: pretty

        1.
        to a moderately high degree; fairly.
        “he looked pretty fit for his age”
        synonyms: quite, rather, somewhat, fairly, reasonably, moderately, comparatively, relatively, tolerably, passably, adequately, satisfactorily, decently, respectably; informal kind of, sort of
        “a pretty large sum of money”

        Unless you are a member of the National party then the definition becomes this

        adverb National Party informal
        adverb: pretty

        1.
        not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully.
        “a forgetful and utterly pretty incompetent assistant”
        synonyms: inept, unskilful, unskilled, inexpert, amateurish, unprofessional, lacking ability, bungling, blundering, clumsy, unproficient, inadequate, substandard, inferior, ineffective, deficient, inefficient, ineffectual, no good, not good enough, wanting, lacking, leaving much to be desired, incapable, unfitted, unfit, unsuitable, unqualified;
        informal useless, pathetic, cack-handed, ham-fisted, not up to it, a dead loss, not up to scratch, not up to snuff;
        informal unable to do something for toffee, unable to do something to save one’s life, not much cop;
        vulgar slang half-arsed, not know one’s arse from one’s elbow, couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery
        “he lost his job due to his pretty incompetent performance”
        Law
        not qualified to act in a particular capacity.
        “the patient is deemed legally pretty incompetent”

  18. 18

    Who are they pretending to be?
    This is not even really original – looks like a mongrel cross channeling of some Beto O’Rourke (democratic senate candidate for Texas – who is closing in on Ted Cruz) viral videos – the one of the road trip with the republican congressman & the Whataburger drive through , Who song & air guitar video.

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