Hasta La Creative!

The fair-use fight between Beastie Boys and GoldieBlox isn't over.

After sparring several weeks ago over the unauthorized use of the Beasties song "Girls" in a GoldieBlox commercial that went viral, the toy company deleted the video and uploaded a new version with a different track (see below). But that did not satisfy the band, which has now countersued, demanding that GoldieBlox hand over profits it earned from using the song without permission, reports Gigaom. The Beasties also seek damages, lawyers' fees and an injunction preventing GoldieBlox from using the song in the future.

The suit claims GoldieBlox is liable for copyright and trademark infringement and sets the stage for a judge to decide whether or not the company's parody of "Girls," with different lyrics, constituted fair use—as GoldieBlox contended in its earlier, preemptive suit against the band. Also interesting: The band says it first heard about the GoldieBlox ad when an ad agency that was submitting the spot to Intuit's "Small Business Big Game" Super Bowl contest (in which GoldieBlox is a finalist) inquired with Universal Music Publishing Group about whether GoldieBlox had secured the rights. (They would have heard about it eventually, of course.)

So, it seems likely that we'll get a decision on the fair use question after all.

Tribal DDB–sorry, Tribal Worldwide as it’s now known–collaborated with Volkswagen, electronic vets Underworld, production company B-Reel and director Anders Hallberg to create “Play The Road,” a 2:47 video showing the Volkswagen Golf GTI turned into a musical instrument by a new iPhone app.

The video, filmed over two nights in London, shows precision driver Thomas Wulff utilizing the new app to create new music, recorded by Underworld but “controlled by the speed and steering of the car itself.” It’s a cool idea, and while the music created isn’t exactly mind blowing, it really does seem to sync with the driving experience well. Of course, having a precision driver like Wulff showing your car off doesn’t hurt either. At the end of the long spot, Volkswagen plays on their usual “Drivers Wanted” tag, changing it to “Musicians Wanted.” So far, the iPhone app used in the ad has not been made commercially available. Although Volkswagen UK was offering visitors to their Facebook page a chance to win the opportunity to experience the app , the competition now appears to be closed.

If you’d like to learn more about “Play The Road” and how it was developed, Tribal worked with director Ed Sayers to create “”How We Reinvented Driving Music.” It’s an interesting look at the new technology, and those involved with creating it. Be forewarned though, it may just make you want the app more. We’ve included it, along with credits, after the jump.  continued…

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What if you could replace the dooming anticipation of your inevitable alarm clock ring with something spontaneous and interactive? We’re not talking about technology from Minority Report, but God Morgon, a Swedish company, linked up with Spotify for “a social wake-up clock” that let’s you choose songs for your friends’ alarms. Imagine if you give over Spotify power of attorney to that friend who wants to ruin your sleep by picking Slipknot. Or if a friend wants to trick you into oversleeping, he/she can throw on some Enya.

God Morgon is actually Sweden’s third largest juice brand – there’s got to be a joke in there somewhere. Sweden’s third tallest midget. But this non-juice product is very cool and seems simple and intuitive. Below, you can see some images of the interface:

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Starting in January, Mr. Joel will play a show a month at the Garden for as long as fans want to hear him play, he said Tuesday.

GoldieBlox, a San Francisco toymaker, removed the Beastie Boys’ song “Girls” from an online ad after the band complained, adding in a statement, “We don’t want to fight with you.”

David M. Helman a réalisé ce superbe clip pour illustrer le morceau ‘Asphyxiated’ de Moors, duo musical composé de l’acteur et MC Keith Stanfield et du producteur HH. De superbes images autour de l’acteur, autour d’une étrange noyade, permettant de montrer tout le talent du réalisateur. Une vidéo à découvrir dans la suite.

La société CapsusFilms a réalisé le premier clip du groupe français Monarque appelé ‘Liberty is Your Choice’. Tournée dans les Pyrénées, cette création s’attarde sur un personnage retiré du monde, en proie avec ses démons. L’ensemble est à découvrir en images et en vidéo dans la suite de l’article.

UPDATE 2: The Beastie Boys released this statement Monday:

    Like many of the millions of people who have seen your toy commercial "GoldieBlox, Rube Goldberg & the Beastie Boys," we were very impressed by the creativity and the message behind your ad.
    We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering.
    As creative as it is, make no mistake, your video is an advertisement that is designed to sell a product, and long ago, we made a conscious decision not to permit our music and/or name to be used in product ads.
    When we tried to simply ask how and why our song "Girls" had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.

UPDATE: A rep for the Beastie Boys tells the Huffington Post that the band has not made any claim against GoldieBlox, saying: "There was no complaint filed, no demand letter (no demand, for that matter) when [GoldieBlox] sued Beastie Boys."

Original item below:
The feel-good ad of the month has taken a feel-bad turn. The Beastie Boys apparently have a problem with GoldieBlox's version of their song "Girls" in the overnight smash-hit "Princess Machine" commercial, which recast the track with new lyrics as an empowerment anthem for little girls. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the band has allegedly threatened legal action, claiming copyright infringement, and the toy company has preemptively filed its own lawsuit asking that its version of the song be considered fair use—a common defense in cases involving parody material. The sticking point for GoldieBlox may be that "Princess Machine" is expressly designed to sell toys, and thus is a commercial endeavor at least as much as it is a sociological statement, but it will be up to a court to decide. The Beastie Boys, meanwhile, risk looking like they're censoring a worthwhile message that has enthralled millions—though of course it's hard to protect your intellectual property if you're willing to look the other way now and then based on ideology or pressure from the public. You can read GoldieBlox's full complaint here.

Here’s something to amplify the TGIF feeling: We Are From LA, a directing collective from production company Iconoclast, has launched the “world’s first 24 hour long music video” for Pharrell Williams‘s new song, “Happy.”

The song itself is simple, fun and catchy. We Are From LA’s interactive video allows users to switch between various dancers in different locations, at different times of the day and night. It’s a pretty cool concept, although it would be nice if switching between dancers was a little more fluid and seamless. The dancers in the video range from unknown actors to the very famous (Steve Carrell, Magic Johnson, Gavin DeGraw, Tyler the Creator, etc.) to Pharrell himself. Because of the nature of recording so much footage, they keep things pretty simple, which actually fits the mood of the song perfectly. Head on over to 24hoursofhappy and spend a few minutes checking it out (though we don’t recommend watching for 24 hours).

Between this and the new video for Bob Dylan‘s classic “Like A Rolling Stone,” it seems the age of fine-tuned interactive music video has arrived. Credits after the jump. continued…

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The influential music website next month will publish a print magazine with long-form features and selections from the website.