Barb's Weblog

Boy do I ever want to rant. And I have had DAYS to cool down about it!

No one knows better than I what it means to have one's ideas and designs ripped off, I have experienced it more often than most people. Expecially recently with this patent infringement issue I have been trying to get over. I have come to realize that when you make something and release it into the world, thats it. Its gone. Unless you are as rich as god, there is no way to protect yourself, and its stupid to try. Absolutly stupid. I am telling you, if you bring a lawyer onboard, you have entered the gates of hell. If you expect justice and truth, you are a fool. Our justice system is only about money and covering someone's ass.

Now there is an issue that has interested me. A mom in the UK with 2 kids, we'll call her Minx, a mom with a special needs kid and an overworked husband hosts a fansite dedicated to Rammstein. Its address is www.rammsteinimages.com She posted images sent to her by fans and she gets permission to use them whenever the photographer can be reached, which is most of the time as they are the ones sending the images. Recently the Rammstein's management company has attacked her (not the first fansite they have threatened and shut down) and threatened her with all sorts of monetary and legal punishments if she did not close her site. Out of fear and shock, she did so. Then they lied on their official news page saying they never asked her to close her site. Her cease and desist demand belies that claim. She has had to hire lawyers to protect her, while trying to do what was demanded of her. Now the worldwide outcry against the injustice has literally thousands of fans writing and calling R+'s offices, and the offices of every music affiliated paper, magazine and columnist. This is NOT the first site they have crushed, www.rammsteinfan.com was another. It is a bizarre move as the fans are who make the band so successful, lining the pockets of management, lawyers, shareholders, licensees and myriad other leeches that suck the lifeblood out of a powerful presence like Rammstein. And we crave the band, the pictures and the bit of their lives we can share thru those sites. I know that official photographers are extremely, if not obscenely WELL PAID to take those images, and that should be that. Paid, taken, given to the world.

There is a huge problem with the intellectual properties laws in the world, and granted, the music industry has taken a big hit, that goes without saying. I would NEVER illegally download, ever. Its sucks. But even corporately, the band gets a pittance for their work while greedy coporrate types reap the lion's share of the profits, and control or attempt to control the band members and their products, their talents and their very lives entrapping them in webs of contracts and forced agreements.

We all make a choice when we buy music. New? Used? Bootleg? Import? What is right and what is wrong. I try to buy from the bands direct whenever I can, but I often find Amazon and Ebay are my only opportunities to obtain rare or hard to find in the US music. If you look online, you can find literally THOUSANDS of Rammstein (or any other entertainer, actually) rip offs: illegal recordings, films, unauthorized fan items, every possible type of con and profitmaking item, and the bands recieve nothing for the brisk trade. Now if you look online there is hurtful fiction about these band members, treating them as no more than cartoon or fictional characters while exploiting their fame and noteriety. Its stinks. Its disgusting and tasteless. Why does management not attempt to stop all this crap? The band's official site has always been lacking in content, and images and news are so precious to fans. News is brief and unsatisfying, so fansites offer clarification and detail. Fans have picked up the slack sharing pictures, ideas, comments and their enthusiasm about this groundbreaking group of entertainers. I am certain that this happens with every celebrity, any pawn making money for a nest of lawyers.

Now it may be weird to be interested in a band, interested enough to learn about them, but considering all the vast variety of things we all research daily, its not that unusual. I have delved into their amazing and powerful life stories, they have given me the inspiration to go on and I have come to love and respect their drive and strength as well as their multi faceted talent. They are not just writers, lyricists, musicians. They are actors, producers, choreographers, pyrotechnicians, they design and they are the quality control. They always do everything as a group, their sense of brotherhood is strong whether agreeing or disagreeing (and those tales are somewhat famous). Their ability to hammer out details as a group is absolutely incredible. Any one who has ever worked in a co-op or a decision making capacity knows how nasty it can be. But these guys are team players all the way. And individuals deserving respect and privacy. But should they be kept in the dark by power hungry greedy corporistos? Its disgusting.

My heart goes out to Minx, a mom whose few small pleasures in life included tending her site, her enjoyment in the music. I am in a similar situation so I really feel for her. A caregiver. aging ungracefully, I weathered a couple horrific years of legal bullshit, while watching my business suffer from the influx of cheap import goods, literally forcing me to leave the show/retail market in favor of wholesale work. WTO and its evil cousins are all unconsciously designed to crush the american artists and crafter, the entrepeneur with a wonderful original product, so many people and stories I couldn't begin to address them. The free thinker with a future in innovation and design might as well give up or sell to a conglomerate, or be aware they will eventually steal their ideas, market and profit from them and then crush you if you attempt to ask for justice.

I read in Rolling Stone about Chris Martin, wearing all his colors and bands and supporting free trade, open trade for small nations. I say Chris, wake up. Let Bono save the world, cause if anyone can do it, he can.

If you want to help out, there are millions of people in developed nations stupid enough to buy throwaway poor quality 'art' and consumer goods. Educate them! Appeal to them to respect and appreciate the beautiful work all around them, produced by their neighbors, their countrymen, people whose lives are falling apart due to the importing of these horrible cheap low quality goods. Help your fellow artists and innovators and feed that energy, that drive to make the world a better more beautiful place filled with music and art and education. American artists are literally dying without basic needs being covered, no health care, no professional advice, no other way to earn their livelihoods but by their hands and their drive to innovate. I have basically NEVER enjoyed health insurance, couldn't possibly afford it. I have never gone for welfare or aid, and I struggle to be independent of these crutches.

This problem with import goods and rip off goods is rampant. I know its a problem with infringers of trademarks and patents and copyrighters. Its happening everywhere, in every field. But its gotten out of control. It needs to be understood and fairly dealt with, the greed factor is out of control.

As a crafter here, I am of course more sympathetic to my own group of artists since I have seen the toll it takes on creative spirits, the sad loss of all the talent and beauty right here in front of you. The depression, poverty, the crushed spirits. Buy your art and music from people whose works you love and respect. Don't finance corporate greed and exporters who reap the profits while indigenous people are further ripped off. Its an immense problem, don't be fooled into thinking buying these things helps the people. Educate everyone you can.

And as for Minx, her situation is scary and poverty inducing and entirely unfair and you should go to her site and read her plight. She is one small person providing a service and a creating a community, and she needs your support. If you have a comment, PLEASE go to www.rammstein.com or www.rammstein.de for their statement and go into the rammsteinstore area. There, buried deeply is a link that lets you contact them for product questions. This is apparently the only way to get thru to them. Place your comment there. Write to anyone you can think of about this issue, and you can watch many fan sites for developments. A favorite of mine is by a young woman named Jennifer. www.rammsteinniccage.com. There are hundreds out there, tho. But whatever you do, do what you can to help stop corporate greed and free the musicians and artists of the world so they can do what they do best, CREATE! COMPOSE! CRITIQUE and COMMENT on our society. They make us think! Its important to recognise these great minds. They are forming the world around you, and here you just want a cheaper imitation, someone to think for you. Be like Rammstein's members: break free of you oppressive government, perservere in your need to change your world. Its all you got to live for, really.

Barbara

4:44 PM — e-mail me your comments