OK chaps: the first salvo against Timbaland has officially been lodged with Helsinki District Court. I'll post a news item when I have the official translation of what was lodged

The case against timbaland is now officially... open.

Chris

Nice!
I hope the composers involved get their fair share of the profits and credits

Great! Looking forward to hear the outcome of this. Im really upset of what Timbaland did and how he has been reacting on the critics. Lets hope there is some justice.

Awesome - go get 'em Janne.

Chris: do you have any official source on this? The demoscene public wants to rattle the sabers.

The bigger they are...

Good news. I have no doubt as to the final verdict and I hope the mainstream media catch on, again and are there when Timba is found guilty.

Anyway, I heard Do It playing on radio yesterday morning while waiting in a queue. I am not sure which radio station it was but I figure it is Macedonia's most popular radio station Anetnna 5. Should I contact them and inform them of the situation and that they are possibly infringing copyright laws (not that they pay any royalties to anyone anyway) and not play it again? Or have them compare the two versions on air... something along those lines.

First of all, it's legal to play it on the radio, mostly... so don't waste your time on that.

My source is GRG's lawyer, and technically the action is public, since it's filed at Helsinki District Court.

Second, it's a civil case, not a criminal one, so there's no "guilty" or "not guilty", just amounts of damages, etc.

Third, this is GRG only against Timbaland. I'd rather not say why, except to say I believe GRG's lawyers did their best to try and get all parties talking.

Chris

So GRG is claiming that his mechanical rights have been infringed? ..and Tempest had his intellectual rights infringed? Because Tempest made the melody, but GRG made the "recording"? Please fill us in, if possible

If the records of the filing could be turned into an Internet Friendly Version(tm) -- for example a link to a law-archive that keeps records of these things, or perhaps a photocopy of the filing, that would be of great help.

{please include this warning if you copy/paste this to other forums: the below may be wrong, either in detail or in full, since I haven't seen the filing. Therefore, if anyone wants to get upset about anything... WAIT FOR THE ACTUAL FILING, and base your grievance on that! At some point I'm due to get the English translation of the filing, and then (with their permission),I'll either link to it or publish it.}

It's my understanding that the filing contests that GRG has been infringed, and that his work is sufficiently different to Tempest's as to qualify for copyright protection on its own merits. Note that I don't think this stops Tempest taking his own legal action, and it's not GRG claiming that he wrote Acidjazzed Evening: it's GRG claiming that what Timbaland stole from him was protected by copyright law by virtue of possessing creative attributes attributable to GRG himself. It's just a necessary prerequisite to establish that GRG's version was a product of skill and creativity rather than being a straight port that anyone could do, so you can then establish that it was legally possible for him to be infringed.

It's my own personal theory that Timbaland's steal had nothing to do with the original MOD, and that one of his lackeys is a SID fan, who just happened to use GRG's work. My belief is therefore that GRG's version of the track was instrumental (if you'll forgive the pun) in the composition of the piece.

Again, all disclaimers, I am not a lawyer, etc, etc, etc. Interpret with caution!

Chris

Thanks for keeping us updated Chris - I'm one of the many who have been eagerly awaiting news of further developments, and will continue to do so

Just out of curiosity, any idea why it was filed in Helsinki, given that GRG is Norwegian (IIRC)? Is that just where the 'local' branch of the record label happens to be?

His lawyers are Finnish. And, I think, that's where the corporate entity necessary for launching action was incorporated.

Chris

Chris: I'm quite curious as to why GRG (or his lawyers, to be precise) decided to base their case on intellectual rights rather than mechanical. After all; it was Tempest who created the melody and song, but it was GRG who created that particular version of the song that was ripped.

"Wait for the filing"

When you do something like this, you approach all angles at once, all guns blazing, and sort it all out when the smoke clears. I have to say that I'm disappointed in the attitude of 2/3 of the parties in this. Not that it matters to them what my attitude is...!!

Chris

I'm waiting, I'm waiting.

But yeah; they _should_ care what your take on the situation is, since you have a fair bit of experience in these matters. My worst nightmare would be that the case drowns in technical speak and that the lawyers end up spending all of their time trying to distinguish Jannes MOD from GRGs SID, instead of focusing on the real issue.. but yeah -- when the smoke clears..

Please keep us updated. I know there are a lot of lurkers in this forum right now, who care about this case but doesn't comment.

Well, they do care to some extent what I think about the technical stuff, since I'm an "expert witness", and submitted a detailed 10-page report: which indeed concentrated on distinguishing between the MOD and the SID, as well as on Timbaland's sampling.

No one cares what I think personally about the parties in the case, though

Chris

Hehe, well, yes - what you think about the parties in the case isn't really relevant, no.

Btw; perhaps you would like to shed some light on your involvement in this case in the next issue of ZINE? (I'm the senior editor) - http://www.bitfellas.org/page.php?111