Green Day not liable for using artist's work at concerts

By Jonathan Stempel

Wed Aug 7, 2013 1:16pm EDT

n">(Reuters) - Dereck Seltzer wasn't happy when he learned that Green Day used his artwork without permission as a video backdrop at its concerts. But a federal appeals court on Wednesday said the popular rock band didn't violate his rights.

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California, in what it called a "close and difficult case," can make it easier for performers to incorporate works of art to enhance the experience of concert fans, so long as they don't simply copy the artwork or diminish its value.

Seltzer, a Los Angeles illustrator, in 2003 created "Scream Icon," an abstract image of an anguished, contorted face that has been used on posters and plastered on walls as street art.

During a 2009 tour, Green Day, whose lead singer is Billie Joe Armstrong and which has sold more than 70 million records, used a version of the artwork covered by a red "spray-painted" cross in a video backdrop for its song "East Jesus Nowhere."

The version had been adapted from a photo of a weathered and torn copy of Seltzer's work posted on a brick wall on a corner of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Seltzer sued after rejecting a proposed settlement that included concert tickets. But a federal district judge in Los Angeles in 2011 rejected his claims of copyright infringement and violations of the Lanham Act, a federal trademark law.

In upholding that decision, Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain wrote for the 9th Circuit that Green Day's use of "Scream Icon" was fair, and was "transformative and not overly commercial" despite making few alterations.

"With the spray-painted cross, in the context of a song about the hypocrisy of religion, surrounded by religious iconography, (the) video backdrop using Scream Icon conveys new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings that are plainly distinct from those of the original piece," O'Scannlain wrote for a three-judge panel.

O'Scannlain said Seltzer's testimony that the value of his work wasn't affected, and the absence of the work from Green Day merchandise and promotional material, also weighed in the band's favor.

The 9th Circuit did overturn a $201,000 award of attorney's fees to Green Day. Even though Seltzer lost, it said, he had not been "objectively unreasonable" by suing.

Nathan Canby, a lawyer at Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman representing Seltzer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Peter Anderson, a lawyer for Green Day, did not immediately respond to similar requests.

The case is Seltzer v Green Day Inc et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-56573.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Indie Band Figures Out How to Raise Money Without Using Kickstarter...

Friday, September 14, 2012
by  paul

There's an obvious reason for picking Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Pledge Music, or any other crowdfunding platform to raise funds.  They handle the all the details and financial aspects, but they also take a sizable cut for the privilege and make you play by their rules.  Which is why LA-based indie folk band A House for Lions decided to build their own crowdfunding platform, and determine their own parameters with their own fans.  That includes the ability to use money even if you don't reach a self-created goal. 

The campaign used an already-created software package, is currently in motion and going pretty well.  And it didn't take months - or even weeks - to set up.  Here's a decription from the group's manager, Allie Shaw. 

Even after jumping on the phone with people from Pledgemusic and Indiegogo, we still weren't convinced.  Just look at the numbers and this is the percentages each takes from the campaign:

Kickstarter: 5%

Pledgemusic: 15%

Indiegogo: keeps 4% (or, if you don't make goal you keep the money and give 9%)

artistshare: 15%

Sellaband: 15%

Rockethub: between 4% and 12%

A House for Lions also wanted to give 10 percent to charity (Music Cares), so add that to the percentage and it becomes a serious chunk.  Granted, there's the chance that you will get more eyes on your project on one of the bigger platforms, but that can be a crapshoot.  

We also did some predictive analysis, and found out that reaching goals can be difficult - and perhaps more difficult on an established platform.  Less than 50 percent of projects meet their goals, and other than Kickstarter I had a hard time finding stats.  It didn't look good. 

So everyone got together, and the decision was made: we had to roll our own.

Once we made that decision, things started falling into place.  Mike the guitar player and graphic designer went on a whim Googled "crowdfunding wordpress plugin," (!!) and  he came across a small number of possibilities.   Ultimately, Ignitiondeck was definitely the most robust, easy to use, and well designed.

We were convinced we had to do this on our own, but getting attention was going to be difficult.  This was a real problem for us: A House for Lions only has 1,100 friends on Facebook and realized that they would be relying heavily on friends and family.

We had to brainstorm.  One idea was to make an engaging pitch video that could perhaps go viral and offer great rewards, then they would get the outside eyes on their own.  

We're feeling happy with our decision, largely because we're playing on our turf.   Because without the all or nothing model, we still get to make the album no matter what.  Yes, there are models like Indiegogo that allow you to keep the funds that you raise without hitting your goal, but if you choose to go that route they take 9% (!!) of what you raise.

So it was on to creating the perks for the campaign.

Ahead of the campaign, A House For Lions released a free download cover of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" a couple weeks before the campaign to start some buzz and raise awareness of the band going into it.

And of course the guys are being creative as possible with the rewards.  Many of the lower rewards include t-shirts and posters designed by the guitarist Mike.  Oh, and what's a pledge drive without totebags? ;)

The response to the video and campaign has been pretty good!  A lot of people have been sharing/Facebook'ing/tweeting it around the web.  As of today (Friday), we've reached 63% of our goal with 77 backers and 7 days to go.  I feel this gives hope to baby bands all over that this can be done with a little research, creativity and motivation.

And here's the link where you can find and help donate to the campaign.  We kept it simple: ahouseforlions.com/debut/

Thanks for reading! 

-allie.

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