How to win friends and influence people!

April 30, 2001 3:46 PM

How to win friends and influence people! Metallica goes after Seattle ISP for copyright infringement. I got this link from a pal-has anyone else heard about it?
posted by black8 (19 comments total)

bad link.
posted by tiaka at 3:54 PM on April 30, 2001

Corrected link.
posted by Skot at 3:58 PM on April 30, 2001

Haha, I have to be honest, I'm starting to think Metallica is the stupidest group in the history of the Earth, EVER. Period.
posted by swank6 at 4:00 PM on April 30, 2001

whoops...sorry. I work in a dark room and these black Mac keyboards are pure heck sometimes...thanks skot!
posted by black8 at 4:00 PM on April 30, 2001

I had a huge argument with the marketing guy at Speakeasy.net when those Metallica ads first came out. I saved the email transcript somewhere... Anyway, I was pissed at him for drawing attention to the whole Napster issue, so I let him know about it. This guy was a real tool... I'm glad this happened. heh
posted by fusinski at 4:01 PM on April 30, 2001

i don't know whether to REALLY hate metallica. i don't hate their music, but i most definitely do NOT listen nor appreciate it. but sometimes i'm thinking maybe their attorneys are acting on behalf of them without consulting them first.

before changing their attitude, if any, perhaps they should change their law firm.
posted by mversion at 4:05 PM on April 30, 2001

Ok, I saw the letter, but can someone point me to whatever the letter is referring to? I mean, Metallica suing Napster is one thing, but from the content of the letter I get the impression that Speakeasy used them in an advertisement without their permission.
posted by zempf at 4:11 PM on April 30, 2001

Yeah, from the letter it seems Metallica is completely in the clear, and being especially nice by simply asking for them to stop using Metallica's name in the advertisements. MeFi users surprise me sometimes. If it were me, I'd have sued their ass.
posted by fleener at 4:20 PM on April 30, 2001

At least Speakeasy didn't steal their code. That could have gotten nasty.
posted by Dirjy at 4:30 PM on April 30, 2001

Here's some background from Fusinski.com on the ad. The author saw the ad as doing a disservice to the fight for digital music. Scroll down to the 6/22/00 entry and also read the e-mail transcript.

I hope speakeasy understands the difference between free individual speech and commercial speech.
posted by fleener at 4:34 PM on April 30, 2001

Here is the banner ad that ticked them off.
posted by dhartung at 5:16 PM on April 30, 2001

Hmm. I'd be interested to hear from a lawyer on this one. I don't think the banner ad was that bad...
posted by black8 at 5:36 PM on April 30, 2001

Every previous poster must be smoking large amounts of cherry-flavored crack this afternoon.

The Metallica letter has absolutely nothing to do with copyright infringement. It's talking about TRADEMARK infringement. The two are based on totally different areas of the law (ie- The 1976 Copyright Act vs. The Lanham Act) and protect different legal interests (ie- the right to control the bundle of rights included in a "copyright" vs. the right to protect "consumer goodwill" built up around a certain mark).

I'm not saying that the cease and desist letter is right, good, or really k3wl, but it might help to actually read the letter before offering an opinion on Napster, Metallica, or anything else for that matter.
posted by estopped at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2001

I signed up for Speakeasy DSL last July because of this ad. I don't disagree with fusinski's arguments; however, I would much rather give my Benjamin's to Speakeasy, who has a grasp on current events and somewhat of a sense of humor, than hard-nosed, corporate, customer-unfriendly Verizon.
posted by Hankins at 5:44 PM on April 30, 2001

Heh I remember when I saw that ad. It came out right after the napster fiasco. I would suggest Speakeasy simply change the wording. Exchange the word 'Metallica' with 'Lars' and problem is solved and message stays intact :)

Unless Lars went out and got his name trademarked and copyrighted. I wouldn't put it past him.
posted by Qambient at 5:44 PM on April 30, 2001

Here are two links with some basic information about trademark law and copyright law, respectively.


http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/trademark.html


http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/copyright.html
posted by estopped at 5:49 PM on April 30, 2001

Hey, that letter was only a cease-and-desist letter. If the DSL company used the trademarks illegally, then more power to Metallica.

Sort of reminds me of another ISP who stole the look and feel of a website, beloved by many. Instead of an angry mob, they used a more civil route.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
posted by crunchland at 7:27 PM on April 30, 2001

dont become diluted just because its metallica.... its still very illegal to use, say, IBMs Logo to promote your new Tamaguuchi PicketFriend Toy Thing....

its just so easy to hate metallica.... but this is still somewhat not legal and kinda lame on the ISPs part....
posted by Satapher at 6:33 AM on May 1, 2001

Even if Lars hasn't trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise "protected" his name, he still has the legitimate right to control use of his name and likeness for commercial purposes. Any way you slice it, Speakeasy fawked up.
posted by Dreama at 11:36 AM on May 2, 2001