I replied:
>hey #8, “your argument is -way- off. This has nothing at all to do with copyright.”
——

Yup. I see that now. Not directly.

It has more to do with “voice protection” which is connected to copyright and usually enforced by the same attorneys. Voice protection is a relatively new concept, and falls somewhere between copyright and trademark.

After really mulling this over, I’m not sure I feel that the Romantics have a case, since they agreed to allow a cover. Though they will probably get an out-of-court settlement since they’re seeking an injunction to prevent the game from being sold, during the holiday season. Interesting timing, no?

However, I stand by everything I said about copyright. Feel free to mentally cut and paste it as a response to any comment (here or elsewhere) that feels like “To hell with the fat cats, all copyright is theft, we should be able to do whatever we want.”

–
(By the way, if you want to add one more to the list of people who’ve successfully sued under voice protection, in addition to Tom Waits and Bette Midler, you can add Jonathan Richman. He sued Target for using a soundalike recording his song “Ice Cream Man” in a commercial, and I think he was right to do so. But again, this was an unauthorized use, not a case of someone allowing the cover, then being displeased with the outcome.

(Interestingly, Richman is not incredibly proactive about preventing people from enjoying his songs on the Internet. During an interview, I once asked him “What do you think of people downloading your music on the Internet?” He said “I let others worry about those things. Sounds boring to me, though.”)

–Michael W. Dean