Universal Music Warns Bank of America Over U2 Parody
Posted on November 20, 2006
Bank of America probably has no plans to intrude on the musical turf of powerhouse Univeral Music but good luck trying to explain that to Univeral Music's legal team. The New York Times reports that Universal Music Publishing Group has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bank of America for a corporate U2 parody song that they claim violates their copyright.
On Tuesday, a lawyer for the Universal Music Publishing Group, a catalog owner and administrator, posted the text of a cease-and-desist letter in the comments section of Stereogum.com, a Web site carrying the video. It contended that Bank of America had violated Universal's copyright of the U2 song.Speaking of that Bank of America song that TechDirt calls "hilarious and painful at the same time." Is Universal Music afraid Bank of America was going to start using it in commercials? Or, is Universal Music afraid Bank of America will create an album full of U2-inspired songs about credit cards and bank loans? An inspiring album like that would be sure to go platinum and be nominated for a grammy...not. However, now that this video is viraling out is it like Bank of America is getting a free commercial using U2's song without paying any royalties to Universal Music.The two employees featured in the video were the guitarist, Jim Debois, a consumer market executive for Manhattan, and the singer, Ethan Chandler, a Manhattan banking center manager, who provoked much of the ridicule with his earnest interpretation and also for straying a bit far from U2's lyrics with lines like "Integration has never had us feeling so good/and we'll make lots of money."
Mr. Chandler, who has independently released an album and is working on another, said he was asked to write and perform the song for an August meeting of credit card division executives at MBNA headquarters in Wilmington, Del.
He said he was surprised to learn about the cease-and-desist letter, stressing that his performance was meant for an internal audience. "There was an approved list of songs to use," he said, "and as far I knew, that was an approved song."