By Scott Shaw
Over the past
several months there have been a couple of people who have taken footage from
The Roller Blade Seven and used it to make music videos. This is not the first
time this has happened. Back in the '90s there were a couple of bands that did
this. One was an electronica group from Sweden (I believe). Their music was
very good. This was back before YouTube became the massive force it has become
and the video was uploaded to a different platform. I forget the name of the
band and I never downloaded the video. I guess I thought it was going to be up
there forever. Obviously, I was wrong. If you know who that band was and/or
have a copy of the video, let me know.
More recently, a
couple of people have followed suit. I’m not going to name band names here,
just to keep this simple, but the first time this happened (recently) I thought
it was done by the band themselves so I contacted them via their website as I
always liked their music. The leader of the band got all pissy with me asking
if I was trying to promote my movie by using his music. As I told him, Roller
Blade Seven needs no publicity. I even told him how he could do a Copyright
Take Down on YouTube if he wanted to. But, at least so far, he has not. So, I
don’t actually know who combined their music with RB7 footage or why?
Overall, I have
mixed feelings about this whole process. On one hand, it is kind of flattering,
as the fact is we made RB7 over twenty-five years ago and there is still a lot
of discussion surrounding it and a lot of footage being appropriated. On the
other hand, it is all kind of weird because no one has ever contacted me asking
me if it is okay to use footage from one of my films to make their music
videos. And yes, I do own all rights, title, and interest to the film. So???
From a certain
perspective, this is all fine, great, and interesting but it sets me to
questioning, “Why.” One of the main issues is that I have moved on so far as a
filmmaker since we made RB7. Everything about my filmmaking style has evolved.
Yet, people are still looking to the past. They are not coming to me and asking
me to make the kind of music video, for a specific song, that I would do today;
they are just grabbing footage and running away with it. And certainly, no one
is paying me any money for the use of my footage, which is one of the whole
points of Copyright Laws, nor is anyone even asking me if I like the music that
they are using Roller Blade Seven footage for—which I believe should be one of
the elemental criteria. So again, I have mixed feelings.
For example, the
most recent band that I have found using RB7 footage for their music video, I
am not really about. I don't really like their music. Initially, I thought to
do a Copyright Take Down on it but then I realized that would be a bit
disingenuous as I am sure some people like their music.
For anyone who
has read the story of Roller Blade Seven, they understand that the movie cost
my life a lot. So, to not even ask me if it’s okay to use the footage is a bit
discourteous. If you love the movie, great! If you like the footage, great!
But, you should at least have the reverence for the filmmaker to ask him (me)
if it’s okay to use the footage in association with your music video or any
other visual project before you just grab it and run.
For the record, I
don’t work cheap. But, I can be hired. So, if you want to do it right, you
should contact me and maybe we can make a Scott Shaw Zen Film Music Video,
twenty-first century style, for your song. Yeah, yeah, I get it… You want to
grab RB7 publicity (as shoddy as that is) and you want your footage for free
and you don’t want to have to work too hard to get your music video out there.
But hey, if you like Roller Blade Seven, think about the filmmaker first!
This is all kind
of like when you’re in a room and someone is talking about you and you know
they’re talking about you and you want to say, “Hey, you realize I’m standing
right here.” But, you don’t say anything and you just let them speak. :-)
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