Friday, November 24, 2006

One Card/One Schnook Update

Hilarious news on an aftershock from the painful video that's erupted online - the one in which a Bank of America troubador sings a U2 knock-off at a corporate function. (I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago.)

The NY Times - among other outlets - has reported that Universal Music is suing BofA:

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.

It's really hard to believe that Universal has nothing better to do than go after this take-off. (Just as it's hard to believe that the leaked video is really "brilliant corporate marketing" to get publicity on BofA's One Card - rather than the snarky little act of some BofA employee who wanted to have a laugh at a colleague's expense.) Ridiculous!

By the way, the singer, Ethan Chandler, "has independently released an album and is working on another," and feels that - despite becoming the subject of ridicule as the poster boy for jerky corporate functions , the episode has had an upside: publicity for his musical sideline. (I'm glad Ethan is OK: I was worried about him.)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Ethan is stealing a page from William Hung's book (the horrible singer who made a mini-career out of his tranwreck performance on American Idol). If so, no tears for him.