January 07, 2010

A lawyer who doesn't know the law (w/ 2nd update)

(Rico Blanco photo from TatayK.)

JUST read a blog about how PaLaKa presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro used a song ("Posible") of former Rivermaya frontman Rico Blanco in his latest TV ad, without the latter's permission.

Blanco has been tweeting about this, and even gives Gibo, the benefit of the doubt, until he actually saw the ad and noticed that the singer had even tried to copy his (Blanco's) voice.

Not only have Gibo and his campaign staff broken the law by not asking permission from Blanco to use his song, they're even trying to mislead the public into believing that the artist was actually singing the song, thus, making the public think that Blanco is endorsing Gibo's presidential campaign! (Sorry, was trying to find the ad on the blogs or YouTube but it's not uploaded. Either that, or it's been removed already by the brainiacs in Gibo's campaign staff.)

(Gilbert Teodoro Jr. photo from Wowel.com.)

This reminds me of the lawsuit filed by singer Jackson Browne versus Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party after they failed to obtain the singer's permission for using his song "Running on Empty" in a McCain ad mocking Barack Obama's proposed energy policies, during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.

And all the while, Gibo has been boasting that he's a bar topnotcher? Yet he nor his staff can't even follow basic IPR regulations? Tsk, tsk. Galing and Talino this one.

Then again, this IPR violation is probably the least of Gibo's legal concerns, if the rumor mill is to be believed. I hear a relative has great shooting skills. Must be a fan of Dick Cheney.

* * * *

(Dennis Garcia, left, with brother Rene on the cover of Hotdog's greatest hits album. Photo from XPrezz.)

(UPDATE Jan. 8, 2010 at 1:25 a.m.) In the interest of fair play, I've published the message of Mr. Dennis Garcia, who produced the 'Posible' song for Gibo's ad, in the comments page. For those who are too young to know, Mr. Garcia, is co-founder of the Hotdog band in the 70s, and a songwriter who created such great hits like Annie Batungbakal, etc.

* * * *

(UPDATE Jan. 10, 2010 at 12:30 am) Here's the controversial Gibo 'Posible' ad:



Last night, Rico Blanco officially asked the Gibo camp to cease and desist using his Posible song in said ad bec. the artist never gave consent for its use.

Warner Music, which currently manages the artist quotes Section 178 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, w/c says the copyright of an audiovisual work belongs “to the producer, the author of the scenario, the composer of the music, the film director, and the author of the work."

Btw, here's Posible, originally sung by Rivermaya:

6 comments:

Dennis Garcia said...

Ms. Arnaldo...
just some clarification: i am an independent creative consultant and i produced the 'posible' song for teodoro - after going through and completing the whole process: finding out who the publisher was and securing/paying the rights to use the song. fyi, the gibo people were not involved in the production of the jingle. i am a songwriter myself (with tunes like manila, bongga ka day, ms universe, o lumapit ka, annie batungbakal, etc) and very sensitive about ipr. i have always been enamored with the new breed of songs and'posible'was one of them. so when the opportunity came, i proposed its use but never thought it would bring about so much conjectures and conspiracy theories.
if i had known earlier - what i know now - i would have just gone ahead and just created an original song. last time i checked, i still have the licks.
thank you.

Stella Arnaldo said...

Mr. Garcia, thank you for your clarification. I am well aware of your background as a songwriter, being a Hotdog fan from way back. And yes, perhaps you should've created an original song for Gibo instead, as you have such great talent.

I hope you've made the same clarification to Rico Blanco, as he was the offended party in the issue.

Pls. give my regards to your sister, Tita Sandra, who is a friend.

sandra garcia said...

Dear Stella,

In a sea of biases and negativism, your open-mindedness is so refreshing. Bongga ka 'day.

All the best,
Tita Sandra

Stella Arnaldo said...

Thanks Tita Sandra. And you can call me Annie Batungbakal. Tiga-Frisco kami dati at talagang gabi-gabi akong nasa disco, hehe. Regards po ;p

Reyjr said...

Hi Stella, interesting conversation above. ;) I believe this issue has already been dealt with as I no longer hear anything about it.

One thing though, you credited me for Gibo's photo above, which actually I do not own. I would rather the real owner be credited. I'm not sure if this is indeed the original owner, but I got the photo from: http://wowel.blogspot.com/2009/01/defense-secretary.html

:D Thanks!

Stella Arnaldo said...

Hi Reyjr. Thanks for the clarification. Photo credit corrected as per your request. Regards.