Belgian Collection Society SABAM Caught Taking Cash For Made Up Bands It Didn't Represent
from the stay-classy dept
We've seen all sorts of ridiculous actions from various music collection societies over the past few years -- from PRS trying to charge a woman who played the radio for her horses to ASCAP claiming that a legally licensed ringtone also should require another license for being a "public performance." Apparently a satirical TV show in Belgium decided to see how far they could push the Belgian collection society, SABAM. While SABAM chose not to charge them for a ringtone "performance," it did send them invoices when they said they were going to have totally made up bands performing made up songs. Neither the bands nor the songs were actually covered by SABAM since they didn't actually exist. Yet, the invoices still came:
Making a telephone call to SABAM from a public toilet, a Basta team member looked at the manufacturer of a hand dryer and explained that Kimberly Clark would be performing at an upcoming event. That would cost 134 euros minimum said SABAM.
Next the playlist. What if Kimberly Clark sang songs not covered by SABAM? Titles such as 'Hot Breeze', 'Show Me Your Hands', 'I Wanna Blow You Dry', 'I'm Not a Singer I Am a Machine' and the ever-timeless, 'We Fooled You', for example.
Five days later the answer came from SABAM. All of the songs were "100% protected" and so Basta must pay 127.07 euros.
Concerned that this might be a one-off mistake, the Basta team tried again, this time taking brand names of products from the supermarket including Suzi Wan, the name of a Chinese food wok kit, Mister Cocktail and the Party Mix, which is a hybrid of a drink and some party food, and Ken Wood, the food mixer.
They got bills from SABAM for these 'artists' totalling more than 540 euros.
The group who did all this, Basta, then wondered who was getting all of this money, so it took the food they used in that second experiment and brought them to SABAM offices to sign up to collect their money. No such luck. Though, once exposed, SABAM found it in their hearts to return the money.
There are some other amusing parts to the show, including a fun bit that mocks SABAM's inability to understand zero. Apparently, the fees for parties are based on venue size, and the smallest size range is for places that range from 1 - 100 square meters. So, Basta set up a party in 0.99 square meters, and told SABAM about it. Rather than recogizing the put on, SABAM insisted that the "1" really meant "0" and handed them an invoice for 82 euros.
Nice to see collection societies around the globe living down to their reputations.
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Meet Buddy Roemer, who hasn’t won an election since the 1980s and lost to America’s most famous neo-Nazi. McKay Coppins talks to the ex-Louisiana governor about his White House dreams.
Buddy Roemer is the kind of politician who likes to use your first name in conversation—a lot.
“That’s a good question, McKay!” he exclaims when I ask him why he decided to become a Republican halfway through his first and only term as governor of Louisiana. “You gotta stop asking these questions!”
Previous LA Gov. Buddy Roemer is considering running for President. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images
Unfortunately for him, that will be one of the easier queries he faces in the coming months, as he tests the waters in a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination in 2012. Roemer hasn’t won an election since 1987. As governor, he became something of a state joke when he entrusted his emotional well-being to a new-age guru who instructed him and his staff to ward off negative thoughts by snapping a rubber band on their wrists and saying, “Cancel. Cancel.” And his only real claim to national fame is losing his bid for re-election to the statehouse in a primary to a veritable neo-Nazi. But today, none of that is preventing him from exploring a White House run.
“Thursday, I’m announcing an exploratory committee,” he says in a cheerful New Orleans accent, making him only the second Republican candidate so far to officially declare his intentions. (The other is pizza magnate Herman Cain.) “And then I will proceed to explore, to think through, to listen to people—I call them plain people—throughout America.”
It’s easy at first to dismiss Roemer as a kook—or, worse, a cynical opportunist looking to cash in a brief, buzzy presidential run for a future book deal or a cushy cable gig. But while his stated campaign strategy is hugely untenable—more on that below—he insists his intentions are sincere. And, well, maybe he’s telling the truth.
“Many will say that ‘he doesn’t have a chance,’ that ‘he’s not to be taken seriously,'” he says, pausing for emphasis and then lowering his voice. “Watch me, McKay.”
So far, Roemer’s platform is thin. He doesn’t have a lot to say about entitlement reforms or Middle East engagement. Instead, Roemer, who served seven years in the U.S. House, appears to be putting all his eggs in one basket, and betting that the message will resonate among populists in both parties. His target: something he calls “the money monster.”
“People are asking, ‘Why are you coming back?’ And I say it’s because there’s a need here. I am unimpressed and frightened by the money culture in Washington…
“Many Congressmen are auctioning themselves off for retirement. You have a health-care bill without any tort reform. I wonder how that happened. You have a financial-regulation bill that doesn’t require major banks to follow the same rules as every other company. Gee, I wonder how that happened.”
His bid to free Washington from the grips of the money monster will start with his own campaign. Roemer says he will refuse to accept donations from corporations, PACs, or special-interest groups, and that he will limit personal donations to $100 per individual. Slate’s Dave Weigel has already pointed out that such an approach to fundraising will make it all but impossible to raise enough cash to launch a credible campaign—but Roemer is ignoring the naysayers.
“I will declare my independence from the ‘all I want is access’ money,” he says proudly, insisting that this is more than just campaign window garnish. Indeed, he says, “I happen to think this is key to fixing most of the problems that are ailing America.” It’s a bold claim, and I press him to outline specific policy proposals that will solve the problem. At first he demurs—“That’s for future times,” he says—but then, as though the thought is just occurring to him, he offers, “When Congress sees the success I have with my own campaign, they will turn and say, ‘How did you do that?’ and ‘How does that work, and how does the Internet work?’ I’m not going to dictate to them.”
Robert Mann, a professor of mass communications at Louisiana State University, and a one-time reporter who covered Roemer when he was in Congress, says the politician has always relished being perceived as a "maverick." As a conservative Democrat, he was one of the first members of the House of Representatives to cross party lines and work with Ronald Reagan. And, later, as a governor hoping for re-election he switched parties because, Mann speculates, "he saw that the state's politics were trending conservative, and he thought it would be easier to be re-elected." (Roemer, on the other hand, insists he switched parties to add partisan variety to the Democrat-dominated state. He points to Gov. Bobby Jindal's election as a success made possible, in part, by his own political trailblazing.)
Of course, this independence comes with some baggage that may not smell so rosy to GOP primary voters. As governor, Roemer vetoed an anti-abortion bill because, he says, it "didn't do enough to protect the life of the mother." And he has a record of supporting environmental regulations that will surely be viewed with suspicion by the party's more adamant climate skeptics.
But while Roemer's maverick persona has a mixed track record of electoral success, Mann says he still has the intuition of a good candidate. "If there's a politician that could talk a bird out of a tree, it would be Buddy Roemer," says Mann. "There's a refreshing quality to his rhetoric, and a freedom that comes with not being beholden to any party."
There may or may not be more to Buddy Roemer than an entertaining 20-minute interview. But even if rhetoric's all he's got, he'll still have an important place in the 2012 primary. Namely: on the stage, drawing attention to every other candidate's dance with the "money monster."
McKay Coppins reports on politics and culture for Newsweek.
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For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
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bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
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bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
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<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
bench craft company
Central Florida <b>News</b> 13: Scott Harris has a new role – The TV Guy <b>...</b>
Hal Boedeker of Orlando Sentinel is The TV Guy. Dishing on TV, the news and what everybody is talking about.
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
<b>News</b> Corpse » Rachel Maddow Beats Glenn Beck In Key Demo:
Seeing as how the media were probably not going to do it themselves, the designers at News Corpse stepped forward to provide this sticker to protect unwary citizens from harm. America's Barack. History was made on November 4, 2008, ...
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