Hey @Emma …thanks for weighing in! Good to see a different perspective coming from the locals. I had suspected a fair amount of media bias on behalf of the American sources that reported.
Do u have any thoughts on the song?
Hi Jonathan,
my understanding is that the National Party (government) bought the music to use in their ad, from an online site for royalty-free music. It was described as ‘eminiesque’ and they believed that they had purchased the rights for it. So it was quite a surprise to have the legal challenge.
We become a bit flippant down here at the USA habit of suing… it can seem a bit over-the-top so this has all been a little surreal. What I find interesting is that it’s the ‘user’ of the supposed copyright-free material who is being sued, not the producer/supplier of the sounds… That’s an interesting predicament… Buyer beware??? How many people are buying/using supposed copyright free material that may in fact be copyright?? The plot thickens… 
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God I love that song. 
Anyway, yeah the commercial is definitely reminiscent of the song, but I don’t think creating a similar work is illegal. And it’s so short. I guess it’s a matter of degree. I just don’t see how it can be worth the cost of the lawsuit.
How do you figure?
To which ‘once great land’ are you referring?
Sadly our brilliant lawyers are not licensed to practice law in New Zealand, so I don’t think it would help much anyway.
[quote=“Emma, post:22, topic:1544”]
Hi Jonathan,
my understanding is that the National Party (government) bought the music to use in their ad, from an online site for royalty-free music. It was described as ‘eminiesque’ and they believed that they had purchased the rights for it. So it was quite a surprise to have the legal challenge. [/quote] That’s pretty much exactly what I’ve read in the US news reports about this as well.
Well, add this to your things to be flippant about - lol:
In the US, we have whats called deep pocket liability. That means damages can be obtained by defendants (and co-defendants) who are capable of paying, rather than the ones who are ACTUALLY found to be negligent. Its awful, but true. I have wondered if Eminem’s lawyers are are testing that under New Zealand’s system. I don’t know anything about New Zealand law, but I’ve heard many countries do NOT have deep pocket liability statues.
I’ll also add this, lawyers are not among the most prized citizens in this our society. I’ve heard its true of lawyers in any country, but I’ve also heard this is different for some countries like Switzerland, France, South Korea, and Belgium. So in a nutshell…sorry we’ve insisted on bring our legal drama to your neighborhood 
They might be playing the long game - using this case as a template for future cases. In any case, I would have thought the publicity would go a long way towards making it all worthwhile.
Innocent until proved wealthy. Only in the USA folks.
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Arrangement = instrumentation and voices. Therefore one man playing guitar and singing IS an arrangement.
So, once the first guy to play a guitar and sing has copyrighted his work, everyone else - by your claim - has to pay him a fee for using that arrangement (one guitar and one voice).
You KNOW I’m from the UK.
And your brilliant Lawyers don’t speak to New Zealanders. Who knew?
I don’t think that’s JUST America. But it certainly shows in our Amercian cousins on here.
Interesting reasoning.
I’m sure they take vacations there.
“Arrangement” can mean many things. These days I don’t think the term is specific enough to hold any significance.
I agree entirely, which is why I dispute anyone’s claim that arrangements are automatically copyrighted.
Maybe if the NZ guy started rapping he might have a case. Otherwise its a crock o shite!
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We may be a small country but we just won the America’s Cup… Yay!!!
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Someone, please tell me I’m not the only joker on this forum that had to google “America’s Cup” to figure out what it is. C’mon be honest. Who else needed to look up it up?
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Yes, you’re the only one - the rest of us live on earth…Do you feel special? (oh wait! I forgot a smilie 
)
I actually didn’t know what America’s Cup was either. I haven’t googled it yet, so I’m still in the dark.
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It is an amazing triumph… Team Oracle USA had a gazillion dollars , we had 5 bucks and a steely determination… 
:beerbang:
Yay!!! Go NZ!!!
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Oh wow! Score one for the underdog!
That 5 bucks says this story is probably getting made into a movie?
hehe… I doubt it…
but it really did feel like a David and Goliath type thing… 