Musicians: Quit Using Our Songs For Torture!Musicians: Quit Using Our Songs For Torture!
The Associated Press has a story this week about how the creators of music--from Rage Against The Machine to Sesame Street tunes--are protesting usage of their art for torture. Now that's a fair use issue I can get behind!
According to the AP, guards at U.S. military prisons use songs by Nine Inch Nails, AC/DC, Queen, Pantera, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and more to break prisoners. It's an especially torturous weapon against detainees from Afghanistan who, thanks to the Taliban, have had little or no exposure to Western heavy rock.
Thus, says the news report: "Musicians are banding together to demand the U.S. military stop using their songs as weapons. A campaign being launched Wednesday has brought together groups including Massive Attack and musicians such as Tom Morello, who played with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and is now on a solo tour. It will feature minutes of silence during concerts and festivals, said Chloe Davies of the British law group Reprieve, which represents dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees and is organizing the campaign."
To be sure, not everyone is upset. Drowning Pool bassist Stevie Benton said, "I take it as an honor to think that perhaps our song could be used to quell another 9/11 attack or something like that."
Whatever my thoughts about anything else, bands have the right to be "proud" of certain usages of their music. They also have the right to protest when their songs are used in ways that offend them. Indeed, I think that Morello, Sesame songwriter Christopher Cerf, and others upset about this issue should invoke fair use laws. You know, the statutes that say users must get permission from copyright owners if music is used for purposes beyond personal consumption--say, in an aerobics class or at a nightclub. That way, acts like Drowning Pool can do what they believe to be right--and bands like Rage Against The Machine can, too.
