December 08, 2004
iPod + U2 + Negativland = Apple's wrath
by Liza Sabater
Francis, you little minx. I had no idea you were up to no good.
Francis Hwang: Shut down! documents how eBay item 2290680118 (Ends Dec-07-04 22:06:39 PST) - Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition was banned by the auction site. Something bordering on art, performance and agit prop, the auction was meant to commemorate one U2 vs. Negativland copyright infringement case.
In 1991, the experimental sound collage band Negativland released a single called “U2”, which extensively sampled both U2’s hit single “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and colorful studio recordings of Top 40 disc jockey Casey Kasem. This offbeat recording would have languished in obscurity if weren’t for Island Records, U2’s record label, which decided to sue Negativland and their independent label SST Records for deceptive packaging and copyright infringement. After a protracted legal battle, Negativland’s legal funds were exhausted and they settled out of court. Today, it is illegal to produce the “U2” single in the United States. (U2, on the other hand, would go on to use unauthorized samples of appropriated satellite video in their Zoo TV tour.)
Now you can commemorate this ignoble episode in intellectual property history with iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition. From its packaging to its pre-installed content, this unauthorized iPod modification is an artful mash-up of the forces of corporate megarock and obscure experimental music, and a provocative symbol of the ongoing struggle between those who would confine culture and those who would free it.
I'm going to have a Dinner for Five... with Jon Favreau moment here. In 1992 or 1993, Negativland had a performance at The Knitting Factory. Might have been 1992, because they were still on the Houston Street location. Negativland played a set out of the U2 mash-up album. Sitting next to me where Yoko Ono and a still kiddish Sean Lennon. She sat there quiet as a Buddha while Sean checked out the whole scene. The room was small and it was hot as hell. The set was short and sweet but what I liked the most was the "visual mash up" they created on the set. Mocking the video "With or Without you", the band played their set with the videos of each U2 song projected unto them and the lead singer imitating Bono's moves. It was great.
Now. This is the iPod I really, really want to have.
Read more at :
Wired News: EBay Negative on Negativland IPod
See also: NEWSgrist: Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition
Posted by Liza Sabater in Art, Computers, Copyleft, Copyright, Culture War, Music, Pop Culture, Technology
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Een speciale U2 versus Negativland-editie van de iPod. Dat is natuurlijk vragen om problemen. Wel erg retro. c u l t u r e k i t c h e n: iPod U2 Negativland = Apple's wrath... [More...]
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