Re: pho: Metallica Sues Over Chord Sequence E - F

Hoax?  Bad attempt at comedy? 

I can't find anything about this on either MTV.com or Metallica.com, the cited
"sources," nor via Google.

JP

--- Seth Johnson <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> So, when will the honest truth get through to these numbskulls?
> 
> Seth
> 
> > http://www.411mania.com/music/news/article.php?news_id=3586
> 
> 
> Metallica Sues Band Over Usage Of E, F Chords 
> 
> Posted By Mindy Turner ([email protected]) on 07.16.03
> 
> Just when you thought things couldn't get more bizarre. 
> 
> According to MTV.com, Metallica are suing independant Canadian rockers
> Unfaith over what they call "unsanctioned usage of two chords [Metallica]
> have been using since 1982 : E and F."
> 
> "People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it from
> our point of view just once," stated drummer Lars Ulrich. He adds that
> they're not saying they own the two chords, individually - "that would be
> ridiculous" - just that in that specific order, people have grown to
> associate E, F with their music, and their continued usage in the same song
> causes "confusion, deception and mistake in the minds of the public."
> 
> You can read the whole surreal article here
> (http://www.scoopthis.com/411/met_uf/stc_met_uf_mtv.htm).
> 
> Metallica.com has issued an official statement on the subject here
> (http://www.scoopthis.com/411/met_uf/stc_met_uf.htm).
> 
> Credit: MTV.com, Metallica.com
> 
> ----
> 
> > http://www.scoopthis.com/411/met_uf/stc_met_uf_mtv.htm
> 
> MONTREAL — Metallica are taking legal action against independant Canadian
> rock band Unfaith over what they feel is unsanctioned usage of two chords
> the band has been using since 1982 : E and F.
> 
> "People are going to get on our case again for this, but try to see it from
> our point of view just once," stated Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We're not
> saying we own those two chords, individually - that would be ridiculous.
> We're just saying that in that specific order, people have grown to
> associate E, F with our music."
> 
> Metallica filed a trademark infringement suit against the indie group at the
> US district court for central California on Monday. According to the
> drummer, the continued use of the two chords causes "confusion, deception
> and mistake in the minds of the public".
> 
> Metallica's lawyer, Jill Pietrini, told us that the band decided to take
> legal action only after first sending a letter of complaint to the Canadian
> band's singer/songwriter, Erik Ashley.
> 
> "We sent a demand letter and haven't reached a resolution, so we had to
> sue," she said. "They continue to shamelessly feature the two chords on
> their website song samples and we just can't have that."
> 
> Ashley, in the meantime, is still shocked by the entire story, and hasn't
> yet decided how the band will respond.
> 
> "I thought it was a prank at first," he told us. "Now I'm not sure what to
> think." 
> 
> Ulrich states that he's not trying to prevent Unfaith from using the two
> chords, only that he feels Metallica should be credited for them whenever
> used, and is calling for 50% of all revenue generated from any song using
> them. 
> 
> "It's nothing personal against them," he added. "We intend to enforce our
> rights with any band intending to use Metallica-branded chords in the
> future." 
> 
> This marks the first time anything of this kind has ever been tried in
> court, and it will be interesting to see how things develop.
> 
> Metallica's website has issued an official statement on the suit here.
> 
> Unfaith's official website hasn't officially responded at print time.
> 
> —Joe D'Angelo
> 
> 
> ----
> 
> > http://www.scoopthis.com/411/met_uf/stc_met_uf.htm
> 
> METALLICA DEFENDS RIGHTS AGAINST CANADIAN BAND OVER E, F CHORDS | 7/16/2003
> << GO BACK 
> 
> We have elected to pursue legal action against Unfaith, a Canadian band
> using chords (E & F) traditionally associated with Metallica. We intend to
> agressively defend our rights in this matter to the fullest extent of the
> law. It's nothing personal against the band in question, as we intend to do
> the same to anyone else using the same chords in that order.
> 
> We're not saying we own the E chord, or even the F - that would be
> ridiculous. We're just saying that together, people have grown to associate
> them with our music, and their continued use in the same song causes
> confusion, deception and mistake in the minds of the public.
> 
> We are fighting this fight for our fans, who don't deserve to be subjected
> to this confusion... just as we appreciate their support through this. 
> 
> -- 
> 
> DRM is Theft!  We are the Stakeholders!
> 
> New Yorkers for Fair Use
> http://www.nyfairuse.org
> 
> [CC] Counter-copyright: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/cc/cc.html
> 
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