January 18, 2015

Dutch advert almost identical to French photographs

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 2:06 pm

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An advert for creamers from Dutch dairy company Friesland Campina produced by Amsterdam agency Norvell Jefferson with photos by Belgian photographer Jeffrey Vanhoutte last summer has an angelic feel to it that is pleasant to watch.

However, it looks extremely similar to ‘Poussières d’étoiles’ (‘Stardust’) by French photographer Ludovic Florent, shot in early 2014. Some commenters on YouTube even said it was plagiarised and it’s easy to see why.

See for yourselves. Look at the above link and then watch the making of the advert:

(Link: roomed.nl, Photo of White powder by Nomadic Lass, some rights reserved)

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June 19, 2014

Dutch Eurovision entry sounds ripped off

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 9:52 pm

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Composer Ruud van Osch from The Hague is claiming that Ilse and Waylon, aka The Common Linnets stole his song to make ‘Calm After The Storm’, which won second place at this year’s Eurovision Song Festival.

In 2013 Van Osch had sent in a song to Ilse’s record company as a possible contender for the Eurovision Song Festival. He heard nothing back, which I’m sure is common, although he says he tried to get the company’s attention for months. However, only now has he decided to go public about it by telling The Hague broadcaster Omroep West his story.

Van Osch’s song was called ‘So Sad’ and has a very similar chorus and arrangements, which cannot be a coincidence unless the song is not his or he composed it after the fact. Even a secretary who had picked up the phone at the record company said to him: “Yes, they sound alike, I can’t deny that. Go get a lawyer.”

Have a listen to both songs superimposed and hear for yourself.

Here’s a video of Van Osch singing his song intermixed with The Common Linnets video.

The song sounds adapted yet recognisable, the lyrics are very different, but the chorus and feel of the song has been ripped off, which would equate to plagiarism. The 65-year-old composer in a wheelchair can’t fight the record company so he’s upset, but yes, it could possibly be a ruse to get some attention — but that’s all he is going to get. ‘Calm After The Storm’ sounds like a lot of other songs as well.

(Links: www.nieuws.nl, www.omroepwest.nl, Photo of Guitars by tarale, some rights reserved)

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January 23, 2010

Judges plagiarize blog posting in copyright case

Filed under: Online by Branko Collin @ 1:25 pm

Embedding is a form of publication, and therefore infringement if it happens without permission, Dutch judges Brandenburg, Huijbers-Koopman and Struik concluded two weeks ago in an infringement case. Oddly enough, their judgement seems to hinge on the court’s conclusion (Paragraph 4.99, PDF) that “in case law and legal literature it is generally held that an embedded link constitutes a publication. After all, the material can be viewed or heard within the context of the website of those who placed the link, and placement causes the material to reach a new audience.”

The court seems to have borrowed this quote literally and without attribution from a blog posting by SOLV lawyer Douwe Linders who, according to Webwereld, said that “it looks a lot like copy and paste.” Since it is literally copy and paste, not just a lot like it, it sounds like Linders was unaware that the court had copied him, and that he had not given the court any permission to do so.

Although Dutch copyright law does allow you to quote bits of a work for a number of reasons, it does not allow you to do so without attribution. Further, by pretending the court had written this bit itself, the judges also plagiarized Linders’ words, which is a much more serious offence in my opinion (although, unlike copyright infringement, not actually illegal).

I have never heard before of a copyright infringement case in which judges infringe copyrighted myths and present them as fact in order to bury alleged infringers. This stinks in my opinion, but then I am not a lawyer. Perhaps in their world this is how roses smell.

According to Webwereld, the court’s argument “has caused consternation in copyright land.” Although I agree with Linders’ opinion that embedding generally constitutes a form of publication, the debate about this is far from over, as the comments collected by Webwereld attest.

(The literal Dutch text by Douwe Linders: “In de rechtspraak en juridische literatuur wordt betrekkelijk eensgezind aangenomen dat een embedded link wel een openbaarmaking inhoudt. Immers, het materiaal is dan te bekijken of beluisteren binnen de context van de website van degene die de link heeft geplaatst en door de plaatsing wordt over het algemeen een nieuw publiek bereikt.”)

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April 23, 2007

“A good writer is the best thief”

Filed under: General,Literature,Religion by Branko Collin @ 12:33 am

glasses.jpgChristian daily Trouw (translates to ‘loyal’) has an interview with Flemish writer Tom Lanoye where they have him respond to the ten commandments. About “thou shalt not steal” he says:

In my profession theft is a tribute. A good writer is the best thief. A bad writer steals from the wrong people, or not at all. A bad writer thinks he knows it all already. You have to keep rolling around in all sorts of literary beds. Carnivorous, omnivorous, vegetarian, anything! Everything can be an inspiration.

(Link: interview in Dutch. Via Eamelje, Dutch. Photo by Frank C. Müller, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 Germany.)

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