Astronaut Sues Dido For Album Cover 264
An anonymous reader writes "Astronaut Bruce McCandless is suing Dido for her album cover that uses a famous NASA photograph of a tiny, tiny, tiny McCandless floating in space. McCandless doesn't own the copyright on the photo, so he's claiming it's a violation of his publicity rights ... except that he's so tiny in the photo, it's not like anyone's going to recognize him."
Broken News... (Score:3, Funny)
A NASA astronaut you've never heard of is suing a signer you've never heard of. We've launched investigations into both of these people and will try to explain who they are. Your Late Local News is next.
In Other News... (Score:3, Interesting)
We know the submitter of this post is from a marketing agency by the blatant attempts made (several times in a short amount of text) to lead the reader to a conclusion.
We also know Slashdot has utterly sold out, as the said marking drone somehow circumvented the tradition of being called an anonymous coward: "An anonymous reader writes".
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This is all very exciting and Slashdot-worthy because it's an astronaut involved, of course, but it's a very normal legal situation that photographers and commercial image users deal with all the time. McCandless claims to be identifiable in an image that's being used commercially to promote a product, rather than in an editorial context. If this is the case, it doesn't matter who owns the copyright of the image, the record company might still need to seek the permission of the subject for this type of use
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Considering the unique nature of the photograph in question and the *very* limited number of people who could be in such a photograph, it is pretty easy to argue that the subject is identifiable. Obviously, he was able to identify himself after all.
This isn't a case of "Hey, that's my elbow! Right there! Between the column and the giraffe's neck. Can't you see it?"
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The filing claims exactly that - this was an iconic event (with the images appearing in various popular media), and it could be no other astronaut. Supposedly he's indentifiable from the insignia on his suit and by his equipment (at least in the source image - Sony might try to claim this doesn't apply to the CD cover). Perhaps more damningly, his lawyers also claim the cover image picture credits on 'one or more' versions of the album actually identify him by name.
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You've seriously never heard of Dido? That's like never hearing of Scotch tape or underpants. You'd have to be feral to pull that off.
Re:Broken News... (Score:4, Informative)
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Wow. I may actually be feral and didn't realize it. :-P
Of course, I've studiously avoided any form of music radio for over a decade now. Some of us simply don't care about your pop icons.
(Now, I might have actually inadvertently heard her stuff and might even recognize it, but I got nothing on the name.)
Re:Broken News... (Score:5, Informative)
"a singer you've never heard of"
You've gotta be trolling. 21 million copies sold of her debut album, MTV Music awards, BRIT awards, Grammy nominated, #98 best selling of the 21st century, duet with Eminem, music featured in a big movie, song the opening theme of a US TV show, haircut named after her, sold-out world tours...
I mean, I can only name like three or four of her songs from the early 2000s, but "a singer you've never heard of"?! Come on!
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Oh, I'm actually a fan of Dido ever since I saw her perform on Kilborn's Late Late Show in the early 2000s... just being so interfered with the joke.
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In fairness, the singer's music may be familiar but not the name. That happens a lot.
In this case I'm in the same boat as the gp. Never heard of this singer (or even how to pronounce her name) but that's because I haven't watched MTV in a very long time.
Re:Broken News... (Score:4, Insightful)
even how to pronounce her name
Just like the first queen of Carthage.
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She is Rollo's sister [from Faithless].
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Indeed dido is exactly that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thank_You_(Dido_song) [wikipedia.org]
I guarantee that the gp has heard that song and would recognize it very quickly from a sample. But I really had paid no attention to its singer, ever, and indeed thought it was much older than 1999.
Actually, I don't care much for the song itself, either. It's got that "won't offend anyone" quality whose reward is to be piped into corporate lobbies and elevators everywhere.
Re:Broken News... (Score:4, Funny)
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You've gotta be trolling. 21 million copies sold of her debut album, MTV Music awards, BRIT awards, Grammy nominated, #98 best selling of the 21st century, duet with Eminem, music featured in a big movie, song the opening theme of a US TV show, haircut named after her, sold-out world tours...
For what it's worth, I've never heard of her either, and you just explained why: she's a Top 40 pop musician. That's actually a pretty narrow audience demographic, albeit a lucrative one. I don't know the figures off the top of my head, and I'm going to deviate from normal Slashdot practice and refrain from pulling them out of my ass, but a large chunk of the population just doesn't follow that sort of thing.
Now would you please get off my lawn?
Re:Broken News... (Score:5, Interesting)
The "duet with Eminem" was actually a illegal use of parts of her song "Thank You" by the rapper. Then when it was explained how much cash she could make and how good it'd be for her, she agreed to sanction it and perform with him.
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#98th Best Selling of the 21st Century??!
I can dig the rest of what you're saying, but don't you think that only 10 years in, it's a little too early to say she's going to retain this till 2100?
I think what you meant was #98th best selling of the 2000's. Or #98th Best Selling of the 21st Century so far
I'm not just snarking on you, more the shitty record companies that play that shit all the time like the "Best Selling album of the year" shit, when it's February, or the "best song ever", as voted for by a b
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If you've ever heard any of her caterwauling you'd understand why many people actively try to forget who Dido is.
Further more if I were in any way, directly or indirectly able to be linked to Dido, I'd be suing like the dickens to try to sever that connection too.
Re:Broken News... (Score:4, Funny)
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True, and for the most part I'm not either. But knowing a little about pop culture makes it easier to understand what's going on with the rest of the population. Makes you a lot more sociable, or it would if you interact with others on a daily basis.
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thats the hipster / avant garde / indie in you speaking. now be a bit less objectively ignorant.
decent music can be decent music. plain. simple.
not everything pop-culture-radio-jocks squeeze out is shit.
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You forgot metalhead... (my personal excuse, although i do know dido..)
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You are joking, right? You quote the guy saying "a singer you've never heard of" before you respond. Anyone can look at your post and see that what you claim is not true. It's clear as day that you are responding to the fact that he (jokingly) asserted that not everyone may have heard of her. No one asserted anything about fame. Even then, fame is relative. How many people
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Personal note: right at the height of his fame following the Morris Worm and the Cuckoo's Egg book, I saw him in a Safeway in Berkeley, Ca. I was behind him in line and wanted to say something, but sure enough, I got celebrity jitters. One of the biggest nerds EVAR and I couldn't bring myself to say something like, "I liked your book."
He was commenting to his girlfriend about how silly it was that the cigarette case show
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Who the fuck is Eminem?
Cantankerous old coot since 1957.
A modern day "vanilla ice" or "Marky mark", if you will..
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More like Marky Mark than Vanilla Ice... he's started making movies... but I think you need to choose an older example. More like a modern day Meatloaf, only not as theatrical in his music. (though he is capable of being as lyrical, and most of his stuff does have social commentary in it)
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Are you forgetting that Robby Van Winkle also ventured into movies? Not just bit parts, either! Haven't you ever seen Cool As Ice?
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Oddly enough I "discovered" Dido because my kids were listening to Eminem.
Re:Broken News... (Score:4, Informative)
Who the fuck is Eminem?
Some guy that "sings" without, somehow, using any notes. You know when you're asleep at 3:00AM and there's a BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! with your windows rattling and the sound of a car trunk vibrating from all the bass waking you up? That's some crackhead/methhead listening to him, or one of the thousand talentless hacks just like him, that the RIAA labels have convinced gullible young people is somehow "music".
You've been an old coot since 1957? How old were you then, 50?
My generation's music was reefer music (Zeppelin, Floyd, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Van Halen), today's music is crack cocaine music.
You want me to get all these damned kids off your lawn, lady?
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a signer you've never heard of.
Who is the sign maker named Dido?
Uninteresting (Score:2)
Initially I miss-read the title as :
Astronaut Sues Dilo [Maker] Over Aluminum Cover
Boy was I disappointed!
Of Course (Score:4, Funny)
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstro (Score:2)
If there were a picture of you under a word closely resembling "Dildo" you'd be upset, too.
Not as much as if my name closely resembled it. Her full name is "Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong". It doesn't even fit in the subject line for this post, and it's not a stage name. Her parents should be shot.
Re:Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Arms (Score:2)
If there were a picture of you under a word closely resembling "Dildo" you'd be upset, too.
Not as much as if my name closely resembled it. Her full name is "Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong". It doesn't even fit in the subject line for this post, and it's not a stage name. Her parents should be shot.
That would certainly be the most decisive event in their lives to date.
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Armstrong - pretty stereotypically a U.S. English name
It is actually a Reiver name [landsbeyondthewall.co.uk]. Reivers were warrior clans who occupied the lawless English/Scottish border lands in the early 16th century.
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If there were a picture of you under a word closely resembling "Dildo" you'd be upset, too.
I don't see why. It's obvious that Bruce McCandless is an astronomical dick.
That's why he's suing,so people will know it's him (Score:5, Funny)
By suing, everyone will know it's him, regardless of how tiny he is in the picture, thus giving him grounds to sue. So if he doesn't sue, he has no grounds to sue, therefore he must sue!
Re:That's why he's suing,so people will know it's (Score:4, Interesting)
By suing, everyone will know it's him, regardless of how tiny he is in the picture, thus giving him grounds to sue. So if he doesn't sue, he has no grounds to sue, therefore he must sue!
I am familiar with the picture but I didn't know it was McCandless. Given that he actually got paid to do something which I will never be able to pay to be able to do, I don't have a lot of sympathy for him.
Re:That's why he's suing,so people will know it's (Score:5, Funny)
By suing, everyone will know it's him, regardless of how tiny he is in the picture, thus giving him grounds to sue. So if he doesn't sue, he has no grounds to sue, therefore he must sue!
And what we can't see in the photo is that under the space suit, it's really Chewbacca. Which makes no sense.
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I'd say he doesn't really "appear" [wordpress.com] in the photo. More like a NASA spacesuit appears in the photo.
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Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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NASA's own copyright notice states you can't claim any other rights on NASA copyright material.
So as its NASA's picture, then McCandless is unable to main any additional claims to the picture or its content.
I'd like to know the name of his lawyer so I can avoid using them - ever.
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Re:That's why he's suing,so people will know it's (Score:5, Interesting)
No, you're right on the money. I was looking for one earlier when I read this [slashdot.org] comment.
I think adding something along the lines of FB's "Like" button could salvage Slashdot's next-to-useless moderation system. You could tie it in with the existing relationship system. Maybe I see comments my friends or (optionally) friends of friends "liked" highlighted, while comments they disliked are buried. Failing that, let me choose to not see moderations by particular users. That could be done without necessarily identifying the moderator.
Of course it would be optional, and I would probably still browse at a low threshold, but it would offer a more refined experience for those who want it without the abuse the current system suffers.
Probably won't get the first claim at least (Score:5, Informative)
That being said, the entire area of Right of Privacy law is fascinating. I was reading through this website [rightofpublicity.com] and there's some really good meat there for discussion.
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Re:Probably won't get the first claim at least (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a picture of a spacesuit .... McCandless happened to be the occupant but it is impossible to tell that from the photo ....
If I take a picture of a 747 can all the occupants sue me?
Techdirt (Score:2)
Wow, I had completely forgotten about the existence of Techdirt.
Fortunately, samzenpus and an anonymous reader are here to let us know about this "science" story.
If you want detailed info on the previous story about Mexico and ACTA, you won't find that at the linked site either.
Posted from different "dept."s on each site though. Editors in full effect!
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Wow, I had completely forgotten about the existence of Techdirt.
Yeah, it's been, like a couple of days?
Even Masnick is tired of writing "Streisand effect".
Space trolls!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Traditionally trolls have lived under bridges, but it appears that they've infiltrated NASA and are now making their way into outer space!!!
BE....WARE.....OF....SPACE....TROLLS
(especially if you're a recording artist)
You have been warned. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled IP rights battle.
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He moved from the top of the i to the bottom of the d while we were adjusting the camera, honest.
Please correct me if I'm wrong... (Score:2)
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I believe that the laws in the USA confer the right of the famous to control the use of their likeness in publicity for things that are not related to them or what they do, meaning that companies have to have a contract with the person before any endorsement or advertising can
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They should change the cover (Score:2)
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Call me cynical, (Score:2, Insightful)
That's McCandless? (Score:4, Funny)
I could have sworn that was Buzz Aldrin....
Dear Bruce McCandless (Score:5, Funny)
I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life.
Sincerely,
Dido
Re:Dear Bruce McCandless (Score:5, Funny)
I won't go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my lawyer
I'm in court and always will be...
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But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Number of people who knew who it was in the suit: (Score:2)
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Number of people who now know Bruce McCandless is an asshole: everyone who reads this story. If he wins the lawsuit, he'll still be an asshole.
Bruce was recognizable - now he's famous (Score:2)
tonight Google "bruce mccandless is an asshole" - 67,600 results
Someone needs a new lawyer, a new agent, or a new life.
We deal with this at work sometimes.... (Score:2)
IANAL, but the way this was explained to me:
I work for a government agency and the pictures we take on taxpayer's time are public property. I've seen photos we've shot being used in magazines, web sites, screen savers and in industry publications (which were actually photoshopped to promote their products). It's the reason NASA releases all sorts of neat images because it's a publicly funded entity.
I wish the guy the best of luck but I doubt he's going to get any compensation.
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If a government photographer takes a picture of someone famous that doesn't mean that anyone can now take that publicly owned and available photo and use it to imply that the celebrity endorses their products, even if the celebrity is a government employee as well. However, t
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What McCandless is claiming is something he could sue over even if Dido herself did own the copyright of the photo because he's claiming the use of the p
I'm suing too... (Score:5, Funny)
If you look down at the Earth just below and right of McCandless, you can see me looking up shouting at him to get out of my sky.
Right (Score:2)
"...except that he's so tiny in the photo, it's not like anyone's going to recognize him."
Uh.. yeah, it's an iconic photo of a man doing something that precious few people on this planet have managed to do of a completely anonymous person.
Dido won't settle out of court (Score:2)
I'd be worried about suing Dido: I hear she's pretty persistent. She'll go down with the ship, won't raise her hands up in surrender.
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An entire life as a has-been (Score:2)
Some of the early astronauts haven't done too well in later life. They were big heroes briefly, and then has-beens for decades.
Being an astronaut today must really suck. There are about 100 "active astronauts" [nasa.gov], most of whom will never get into space again. There has to be a layoff coming. Meanwhile, they get assigned to "lunch with an astronaut" [kennedyspacecenter.com] duty.
Mr. McCandles... (Score:2)
He is reading it wrong... (Score:2)
Shouldn't there be an apostrophe? (Score:2)
Oh, it's "Dido" the singer not something very personal belonging to Astronaut Sue.
Recognize him? (Score:2)
... except that he's so tiny in the photo, it's not like anyone's going to recognize him.
Maybe I wouldn't recognize him by name but I damn sure know that photo, and could easily look up who it was if you had shown it to me and asked. (I recognize it as the first untethered spacewalk with the MMU, type "MMU" into wikipedia, and the captioned picture is right there on top). Thus, he's easily identifiable, if at least not easily recognizable.
Incidentally, I'd say that that picture is one of the top 4 most famous space pictures, the others being the Blue Marble, Earthrise and the one with Aldri
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Maybe I wouldn't recognize him by name but I damn sure know that photo, and could easily look up who it was if you had shown it to me and asked.
Don't you need to be able to clearly recognise the person in order to claim publicity rights? Looking up who the photo may have been of based on some website which lists the subject doesn't count. For all we know it's all a fake and he sent a dummy up.
I'm sueing as well... (Score:2, Insightful)
Oh dear (Score:2)
Pay back? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe he should pay back all the US tax dollars it cost to get him there in the first place? Then we can talk about publicity rights ...
Rich.
The _real_ question: Was he tethered to anything? (Score:2)
Great picture. Seriously. Was he tethered to anything or was he roaming completely free? Anyway... Whoah...
The Great American Hero (Score:2)
Once upon a time, we looked to our astronauts as heroes - bigger than life - people who we greatly admired and respected for their bravery, courage and dedication to duty.
We remember Neil Armstrong, Alan Sheppard, John Glenn and Cmd Jim Lovell, Apollo 1, the Challenger and Columbia crews (just to name a few). To be an astronaut meant you above such trivial things as lawsuits over "publicity" rights.
Sad.
In Soviet Russia ... (Score:4, Funny)
Wait, you guys are siding with a RECORD COMPANY over an ASTRONAUT?
And the record company is SONY?
Is this opposite day?
From nasa.gov (Score:3, Informative)
I don't know if the particular image is copyrighted, but clearly the person in photo is not recognizable. You could put any person in that space suit for that photo and not tell the difference.
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They can see your house? YOU DESERVE MONEY!
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Didn't she used to be in Faithless? Not that I'd consider that much of an endorsement...
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NASA has always claimed that any photographic works produced by them or those acting as NASA employees are in the public domain.
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html [nasa.gov]
The interesting exception on that page, that I don't recall hearing about previously is:
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It's not about copyright.
From Wikipedia:
On September 30 2010, McCandless launched a lawsuit against British singer Dido for unauthorised use of a photo of his 1984 space flight for the album art of her 2008 album Safe Trip Home, which showed McCandless “free flying” about 320 feet away from the space shuttle Challenger[1]. The lawsuit - which also named Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment and Getty Images Inc. as defendants - does not allege copyright infringement, only infringement of h
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The outward appearance of the space suit hasn't changed significantly in 30 years, though. Looking at the picture, I have no way of knowing who the astronaut is in the suit: the picture could have been taken at any point since then, and it could depict any of the dozens of astronauts who've been up there. There is no persona to infringe here, because the only people who will look at the picture and know it's him are the people who pay attention to and learn every astronaut pic that's ever been taken. That d
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