Here we have a another fascinating conjunction of music licensing, political campaign with the use and spread of popular culture. (i.e. Fair Use Rights)

Music licensing is its own problem in respect to culture. Current law combined with effectively eternal in length terms (your going to die before the term lets up!) prevents the spread of culture. If it were not for the presently meager Fair Use Rights hardly anyone would even hear or ingest any new culture from media at all.

If Music distribution, Radio and TV execs/firms were kings and queens then they would surely proclaim that any other source of culture is wrong and punishable by death! Its the very normal Monopolistic way to do things in a federally granted Monopoly… Crush the opposition even if it means tearing apart and disposing of Democracy?

Political advancement using current (pop) culture is amusing especially when one realizes that politicians mostly drowned out by the materialistic culture of malicious-special-interest-groups seeking advancement of their own plans. Its probably a good thing that these politicians can/have used a song that hopefully resonates with their campaign/personal style. Its a good case for Fair Use Rights.

More interesting is what do we deem commercial use? Is the paid for advertising created for a candidate a commercial product? Would Universal Studios permit the use of Psy’s music track for a reasonable licensing fee? Or not?

If is would grant the use (for a REASONABLE licensing fee) then Future Factory and the Danish politicians are most likely liable for collecting reasonable use fees. If Universal Studios would not have likely granted use then we have a very real Cultural use and there are even more Fair Use Rights invoked although this is a very weak legal argument? (read reactionary)

In one way its cool that some Danish Mayors can use ?Gamgnam Style? in some culturally relevant way as exemplified by the popularity (Utube views at 1.6 million) of their efforts. Just to be able to pull it off in a publicly acceptable way is nice to see. However keeping in mind that this was possibly a staged sudo-viral event put on by the production company Future Factory? Hard to say.

What is important in this case is that it involves the use and spread of culture. Culture and all that is entails and encompass (which is almost everything) is entirely reserved for free public use under the terms of Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association.

It is ironic that in the original Constitution the copyright law was outlined as a short termed (14-28 year) very limited exception to Public Domain Rights and Fair Use Rights. Whereas in the present day it has transmogrified into some legally lethal monster that dares to call Public Domain and Fair Use exceptions? In what indignant form of attitude about Democratic values is that?

Reactionary,

its likely Psy will see nothing from any settlement from copyright action. Un-recoverd Artists see zip until some Hollywood Accounting Method determines some level of contractual satisfaction.

AC mentioned Bruce Springseen’s Born in the USA legal attacks about ‘misinterpretation’. In this way culture and copyright law collide. Copyright law gives an artist a lo of leeway in the use of their works and as such. Its great cultural humor that Bruce and the users of his work disagree on what the meaning is.

Were the politicians using the song in some belief that it was pro USA even if only they did not understand the lyrics? Or. Were they selling the fact that such was real life and that if you voted for them one could expect more of the same? Did they do ether of these scenarios consciously or unconsciously? A great cultural debate!

Another AC mention the “droit morale” claim of abuse which if no credit to the original authors is not given might have some traction. It might be due to sloppiness on the part of Future Factory?

Its almost always true these days that the ridiculous ‘damages’ contrived by both politicians and present (insane) copyright law are indeed extortion. So much so it gives rise to a legal black market of copyright troll extortion.