How Justin Bieber Became the Public Face of Copyright Reform
A few days ago, we wrote about Fight for the Future, a not-for-profit that started a campaign and website called "Free Bieber," warning that pop star Justin Bieber could face five years in prison if copyright laws were amended. A lot has happened since, so it's time to update.
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Fight for the Future expresses concern about S. 978, which would make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted work a felony, and says Bieber's freedom is at stake.
The group points out that Bieber became famous as a result of posting covers of popular R&B songs to YouTube, which might be true, but hardly constitutes illegal streaming under the proposed legislation. Here's why Bieber is safe from jail even if the law passes.
After the website got attention, the singer's reps became upset over how the singer was being used as a prop. So Bieber's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to shut down "Free Bieber," arguing that the website itself was violating his trademark, privacy and publicity rights, doing things like promising the arrival of "Free Bieber" t-shirts with the teen star shown behind jail bars. Several music artist guilds also have opposed the "Free Bieber" movement, arguing that the proposed bill actually helps artists like Bieber.
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Fight for the Future retained the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the nonprofit legal advocacy group, which returned fire with a reply that makes the case that no laws have been broken in the operation of "Free Bieber."
The EFF dismisses trademark allegations because it's a political website that makes fair use of the term "Justin Bieber," rejects a privacy claim because "we cannot fathom how this political campaign in any way intrudes on any privacy right your extremely public client might assert," and says there's no publicity rights violation because of free speech.
In other words, groups should be allowed to hold up celebrities to make political points.
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Then, Bieber got on the radio and made statements that make us question whether his reps are really consulting with him on these issues.
A radio host introduced Bieber to the proposed legislation -- not really doing a great job, in our opinion -- and Bieber responded that the lawmaker who crafted the bill "needs to be locked up." The law was proposed by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Bieber made the comment as if this was the first time he's heard about these issues. Is he being used as a prop by both sides of the issue? Here's the audio.
Whenever I look at a potential law, I always make sure that I have the opinion of a Canadian teen pop sensation before deciding whether or not I can support the legislation. That's why I was so happy to hear that Justin Bieber took some time this week to express his displeasure with Senate Bill 978, which would upgrade the streaming of copyrighted material to a felony. Some legal experts have interpreted this to mean that anyone recording a cover of a copyrighted song to YouTube (much like a young Justin Bieber did) could serve up to five years of jail time. The Biebs said of the bill's sponsor, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, "Whoever she is, she needs to know that I am saying she needs to be locked up - put away in cuffs." The law in Biebertopia is swift and just, and if you challenge his right to stream, you're going to serve hard time, sister.
Bieber wants to arrest the Senator because, according to him, "People need to have the freedom... people need to be able to sing songs. I just think that's ridiculous." Now, there's some debate as to whether or not the bill would actually prosecute the people recording videos rather than just the websites sharing them - the actual language of the bill is pretty vague. That's why we need more lawmakers like Bieber, who left absolutely no doubt that he though Klobuchar should be in prison.
Of course, Bieber doesn't support all efforts to stop S. 978. His lawyers recently sent a cease and desist order to the website http://freebieber.org/, which serves to parody the bill by claiming that Bieber and possibly Selena Gomez would have been imprisoned under the new legislation.
Justin Bieber: Klobuchar should be 'locked up'
A teen pop superstar wants to throw Sen. Amy Klobuchar in jail.
Pop sensation Justin Bieber said that he thought Klobuchar should be “locked up” for a bill she’s proposed that would make it a felony to profit from streaming unlicensed online content.
Bieber was asked by a Washington-area radio host about the bill, which opponents argue could send people like Bieber to jail for uploading videos to YouTube.
Bieber didn’t appear to know much on the issue — he first thought Klobuchar was a “guy” — but when the radio host said the Minnesota Democrat was trying to make “unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted material a felony,” it clearly hit a nerve.
“Whoever she is, she needs to know that I’m saying she needs to be locked up, put away in cuffs,” said Bieber, who first gained his fame by singing cover songs that went viral on YouTube.
A group opposing Klobuchar’s bill has used Bieber as its poster child, creating a website called freebeiber.org that claims the bill would send him to prison for five years.
But Klobuchar spokeswoman Brigit Helgen said Bieber would have nothing to fear under Klobuchar’s bill, which only targets people seeking to make a profit through web streaming, not users uploading videos to YouTube.
“Justin Bieber must have been misled about the content of this bill,” Helgen said in a statement. “It’s not about people posting their personal work on the web... The bill only covers the intentional commercial theft of things like books, commercial music, and movies, including foreign piracy.”
Listen to audio of the Bieber interview below:
