Microsoft Bing ad/Arcade Fire controversy

[Swede]

A Microsoft ad with a familiar sounding tune is causing a ripple of controversy in the indie-schmindie world of the music blogs. The spot for Microsoft Bing features a tune which is not Arcade Fire’s Wake Up (the fifth single from the band’s debut album Funeral) but certainly sounds a lot like it…

http://188.65.36.75/2011/02/02/microsoft-bing-adarcade-fire-controversy-listen-for-yourself/bing_c_cmyk/

[RZM]

1. Legally I'm sure they are safe

People do this kind of thing all the time. Remember Olbermann's 'Insane in the McCain' theme during the election, which was suspiciously similar to the Cypress Hill song? My college roommates watched a lot of pro wrestling -- while I didn't much care for it, I noticed that the entrance songs for many of the wrestlers were clear ripoffs of well-known tunes. Similar enough to remind one of the original, but different enough to not get sued.

[Tunkamerica]

2. that's a parody

this is a sound alike made expressly to get around paying royalties

[RZM]

3. You're right, it was much more lighthearted . . . but

In the end it's not all that different. I don't think MSNBC ever paid Cypress Hill - if that's true the fact remains they deliberately channeled the song without compensating the artist. I agree it was done in good fun and the Bing ad is more a straight up ripoff, but they aren't too far off, at least from the artist's perspective.

[Tunkamerica]

4. no, copyright law sees it differently and the intent is different