Cease And Desist Letters (Kevin Nottingham rant)

[ardamus]

http://kevinnottingham.com/2010/09/10/k ... more-42754

[quote]There are times when I really hate hip hop. Not particularly the art form itself, rather the politics behind it all. As a hip hop blogger, there are even more politics involved. One of the many things I have to deal with as a blog owner are Cease & Desist (or C&D, for short) letters. For those that are unaware, C&D letters are used by artists, labels, or their legal representatives to formally request that something be removed from your web site. C&D letters can really be used for anything that the party wishes for you to ג€œceaseג€, but when pertaining to blogging they normally want you to remove something.

Over the years, Iג€™ve gotten a few C&D letters and legal requests. Most know about the infamous Stones Throw C&D, but you may not know about the A Tribe Called Quest C&D or the request from George Clintonג€™s lawyers to help them identify hip hop songs that were illegally sampling the P-Funker. I probably donג€™t receive as many as a lot of other blogs do, simply because KN.com does not post retail music for illegal download. Unfortunately, there are those in the industry that lump all blogs together and feel that sites such as ours is ג€œwhatג€™s hurting hip hopג€. I canג€™t tell you how many times Iג€™ve been asked by the casual visitor, ג€œAre your downloads legal?ג€ or ג€œHow dare you try to sell your music through HiPNOTT when you post other peopleג€™s music for free?ג€ For the umptenth time, Iג€™ll say it againג€¦ all downloads on this site have been requested to be posted either by the artist, their label or their public relations person. Period.

I sort of got off topic for a minute, but thatג€™s why I called this a rant. Yep, thatג€™s still my name on top of the site so Iג€™ll rant whenever I feel like it lol. To get back to what this rant is about, I received TWO C&D letters this afternoon. One of them is close and dear to my heart and the other is just flat out ridiculous. Hit the jump to read about themג€¦


Many of you know about the Mama Said Knock You Out Remix Project we recently released on the site. Yeah, itג€™s still up. Grab it now if you havenג€™t already. The remix project was an 8 month venture between this site and emcees and producers all across the world. When released for free download a couple of weeks ago, it was applauding all over the Internet as a great tribute to a classic hip hop album. Producer Marly Marl (the original albumג€™s producer) even heard it and said it was a dope project. No money was made, though long hours by many people were put into crafting this tribute.

Today, I received a C&D letter from the legal desk of LL Cool J (aka Mr. todd Smith). The letter accused the site of unauthorized exploitation and requested the cease & desist of the ג€œSmith Propertyג€ as well as the accounting of all royalties and fees paid. Here, read for yourself:

September 10, 2010

Via Website Contact Page: http://kevinnottingham.com/contact-kevin/

Kevin Nottingham Kevinnottingham.com

RE: LL Cool J/ unauthorized exploitation

Dear Mr. Nottingham:

This firm represents Mr. James Todd Smith, p/k/a ג€œLL Cool Jג€. It has come to our attention that you are making unauthorized use of Mr. Smithג€™s name and intellectual property (collectively, ג€œSmith Propertyג€) including, without limitation, on the website located at www.kevinnottingham.com (the ג€œSiteג€), and including, without limitation, in connection with the ג€œMama Said Knock You Out 20th Anniversary Remix Albumג€ (the ג€œAlbumג€).

Please be advised that our client has not granted you the right to exploit the Smith Property, and you are hereby put on notice that the unauthorized exploitation of the Smith Property, commercially, promotionally or otherwise, including, without limitation, on the Site and/or in connection with the Album, constitutes an infringement of our clientג€™s rights.

In light of the foregoing, demand is hereby made that you immediately cease and desist from any and all use of the Smith Property. Demand is also hereby made for an immediate accounting to our client of all royalties and fees paid, accrued and/or otherwise due in connection with the Smith Property, including an itemized list of all instances of usage heretofore. If you fail to comply with the foregoing demands, our client shall take all necessary actions, including, but not limited to, seeking injunctive and other equitable relief, to prevent further unauthorized use of the Smith Property.

Please be advised that we are also copying representatives of Mr. Smithג€™s record label, as well as representatives of Mr. Smithג€™s music publisher, so that they are aware of the facts set forth herein and can make any claims that they may have.

Nothing contained herein nor omitted herefrom shall be deemed to constitute a waiver or election of any rights, remedies, claims, defenses or factual assertions, any and all of which are reserved.

Sincerely,
Erin D. Love

cc: James Todd Smith Claudine Joseph
Randy McMillan (via e-mail)
Robert Allen (via e-mail) Sean Melia (via e-mail) Jonas Kant (via e-mail)

I have not removed the project yet, as I am waiting for a response to my reply:

To Whom It May Concern,

The last time I checked, a TRIBUTE was not considered exploitation. This project was put together by emcees and producers from all over the world in an effort to pay tribute to a classic hip hop album. 8 months of time and energy went into this project and no one is reaping any benefits. No royalties received, no profits obtained. The project was made available as a free download and there has been nothing but praise given for this tribute. Producer Marley Marl, the sole producer on the original album, has heard the remix project and has applauded it.

With that said, what can I do to rectify this situation? Is it enough for me to simply remove Mr. Smithג€™s name and likeness from the project? Or are you requesting the immediate removal of the project from my website (kevinnottingham.com)? Please be advised that the project has already been posted on many other websites, in which I have no control of how far this project gets distributed.

If possible, I would like very much for Mr. Smith to listen to the remix project. I assume he has not heard it and probably doesnג€™t even know anything about this C&D letter. Can you please forward it to him?

I await your immediate reply as to what you want me to do.

KEVIN NOTTINGHAM

Moving on! The next C&D letter I received today was just absolutely ridiculous. It was more a threat than anything else, as the event in question has not even happened yet. The more I think about it, the more I think MTV is just trying to cover their ass. Iג€™m sure every other music blogger has received the same exact letter. I just found it funny that MTV is threating us for something that hasnג€™t even happened yet. Read onג€¦

Attn. kevinnottingham.com

Re: NOTICE OF POTENTIAL INFRINGEMENT OF THE 2010 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS SHOWS / BROADCASTS

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing to you on behalf of MTV Networks (MTVN), which is a division of Viacom International Inc. (Viacom). Pursuant to 17 USCS

[Philaflava]

That kinda sucks and I feel bad for Kev. Neither C&D were deserving and the LL one was just a pathetic attempt from his legal team to either get some $ or bill LL for some hours, either way its about $.

[Gyangsta 4 Life]

http://kevinnottingham.com/2010/09/10/k ... more-42754

If possible, I would like very much for Mr. Smith to listen to the remix project. I assume he has not heard it and probably doesnג€™t even know anything about this C&D letter. Can you please forward it to him?

[Mansfield Status]

I thought the same exact shit Gyangsta.. like LL gives a fuck about a blogger.. that takes an unbelievable amount of balls.. "just play em the cd man.. cmonnnnn"

[Machiventa]

gay

[Julius Seizure]

meh he isn't profiting off of this project, but it is a promotional vehicle for his site. therefore he is benefiting from someone else's intellectual property.

[Renessis]

meh he isn't profiting off of this project, but it is a promotional vehicle for his site. therefore he is benefiting from someone else's intellectual property.

Maybe so, but where are the supposed damages.
This will never make it to court point blank.
If I were Kevin I would most certainly want to see it happen, I'm sure he can call on everyone involved with the project to research the laws, other court-cases, and put up a viable defense.
But then again, I'm all about "the man"

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Great find, that MTV notice is on some OCD time-travelin' lawyer shit.

[ardamus]

meh he isn't profiting off of this project, but it is a promotional vehicle for his site. therefore he is benefiting from someone else's intellectual property.

Maybe so, but where are the supposed damages.
This will never make it to court point blank.
If I were Kevin I would most certainly want to see it happen, I'm sure he can call on everyone involved with the project to research the laws, other court-cases, and put up a viable defense.
But then again, I'm all about "the man"

only damages is getting more promo for the site. and thats not even a bad thing. but yeah, the LL and MTV are grasping for straws.

[cenzi]

Stones Throw just closed down the other website I help manage www.dotgotit.com. Although we mainly put out local acts, unsigned acts, etc, we will put out links to singles and basically free shit that record labels themselves put out. Stones Throw closed us down because we put the link to the SAME fuckin album THEY had up for free... and the link was to THEIR site!!! fuckers can suck a dick. Thats the second time, same label. My rant.

[Renessis]

Stones Throw just closed down the other website I help manage www.dotgotit.com. Although we mainly put out local acts, unsigned acts, etc, we will put out links to singles and basically free shit that record labels themselves put out. Stones Throw closed us down because we put the link to the SAME fuckin album THEY had up for free... and the link was to THEIR site!!! fuckers can suck a dick. Thats the second time, same label. My rant.

Damn...a hint of 'cut your nose off to spite your face'.

I heard rumor Stones Throw might fold, maybe they're grasping @ whatever they can to hold on.
PBW spent too much dough on funny hats..I guess.

[vinylpops]

PBW and Raekwon have shut me down twice each. All posts where free releases and posted on every other site that supported the artists. I never understood it.

PBW (or the Stones Throw interns) do a great job of shutting down bootleggers (which I'm fine with), but they are complete assholes with their other stuff.

No comment on KN.

[ardamus]

Ah, you know what.....they might pinpointing alot of their traffic and shit off of those free releases. I don't see how it could translate into money unless they got some sponsors that look for them to hit a certain number of visitors. But it is odd that they would shut down sites when they are offering free releases.

[sean]

this is a good and bad thread.

[watchout]

http://kevinnottingham.com/2010/09/10/k ... more-42754

If possible, I would like very much for Mr. Smith to listen to the remix project. I assume he has not heard it and probably doesnג€™t even know anything about this C&D letter. Can you please forward it to him?

What cracks me up is people always assume these artists are innocent. When what really happened is LL prolly heard the shit and called his lawyer and said " shit this nigga down, they taken money out my pocket."

LMAO at "can you please forward it to him." PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE forward it to him.

[cenzi]

http://kevinnottingham.com/2010/09/10/k ... more-42754

If possible, I would like very much for Mr. Smith to listen to the remix project. I assume he has not heard it and probably doesnג€™t even know anything about this C&D letter. Can you please forward it to him?

What cracks me up is people always assume these artists are innocent. When what really happened is LL prolly heard the shit and called his lawyer and said " shit this nigga down, they taken money out my pocket."

LMAO at "can you please forward it to him." PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE forward it to him.

what cracks me up is you thinking that LL has ever visited any hiphop sites.

[watchout]

What cracks me up is that you think he WOULDN'T go to a hip hop site. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out how dude got on LL's radar. Maybe that producer that loved the mix so much.

[Mindbender Futurama]

that website has some bad luck

rap is outta control

[Philaflava]

that website has some bad luck

What else happened?

[Mindbender Futurama]

that website has some bad luck

What else happened?

as a former employee (no Phila), i can't put it all out there. i'm neutral about it all, i got nothing bad to say about KN, but some shit went down

telling the truth is not worth the madness that ensues from telling the truth. especially around here.
nothing personal. you know how it is.

i normally don't play by earth rules, but... if i want to move up, i have to.

still whitening myself, Jason. and what's more white than sinful slander, litigation from libel and legal lynching? Babylonian concepts at their finest.
ha.

rap remains a creator of chaos.

[vinylpops]

that website has some bad luck

What else happened?

They took payments from white underground rappers for the site to review their albums.

[ardamus]

that website has some bad luck

What else happened?

They took payments from white underground rappers for the site to review their albums.

Include me in as the only brotha that got caught up in that.

[Philaflava]

You paid or they asked you to pay if you wanted your shit to be reviewed? Sucker or no sucker?

[ardamus]

You paid or they asked you to pay if you wanted your shit to be reviewed? Sucker or no sucker?

For the sake of the thread to make this entertaining, I'll explain everything that happened.

First off, this was not Kevin's fault. It was this snake he had working for him that was doing this shit. Around the time I was putting out "A Day In The Life Of Modern Day Living", I hit up the website twice to get reviewed. The kid that was charging for reviews the first time around said there was no time and thats when I had it out as a digital release. Once I got physical copies, I hit them up again and dude mentions the fee for the review. Not even much of shit, like $20 or something. So, I said fuck it, don't care, just review the shit and get it up there. He reviews it and its not bad I'm thinking; and he bigs it up. This around November last year. One morning I wake up and see two emails ; one is from Kevin Nottingham and another one from the kid that was working for him. Kevin told me that he had an issue with people paying for reviews, could not post the review because it was paid for, and there was no way of getting my money back. And of course, that sneaky fuck who was doing it got fired and he apologized for that shit happening. However, Kev offered me that artist spotlight and has posted some of the shit I've done each time I hit him up. That kid emails me some shit like "things got crazy, uh, I can't post the review, I'm not longer on that site, and etc". Me being me, I tried to use it to my advantage because I'm thinking me along with a few others got some leverage on this kid. In the midst of us talking, he tells me either writes or used to write for okayplayer.com. And he's manager of Wax & OEM I think; I know he mentioned he manages a few producers. He claims he sent my shit into Okayplayer.com but I doubted it. So I said fuck it, at least got on the site. Sucker? Not if the shit worked out in my favor in the end.