“Pirates” are rewarded by Blink 182

I just came across this via TorrentFreak and thought it was such a cool thing that I needed to share it.

Blink 182 are back with their first single in eight years (not a momentous event for me as I’m not really a fan… wrong era, I guess!) and to celebrate it they have released a video that contains clips from other videos found on YouTube that technically breach their copyright by using Blink 182’s music without their permission.

However, it would seem that Blink 182 are “down with the kids” or, more to the point, hip to the fact that these people use their music not as a way of spreading it and consuming it with no remuneration to the copyright owner, but as a mark of respect, an homage to their favourite band. They use Blink 182’s music because they love it, they think it is good and it fits their film. Or they aspire to be the new Blink 182 and perform their songs on video and share them with their peers for their delectation, not for financial gain.

So, how bloody awesome that the band pay homage right back to these people, these proper fans, and assembled the footage and made a video from it. I’d be truly stoked if my video had been used!

Well done Blink 182, for restoring some sense into the debate, one which Prince might need to have a long hard think about, before jumping on some poor mother who posted a video of her baby dancing to “Let’s Go Crazy” until Prince/Universal’s legal team jumped in and made threats. She counter sued and is part the way to winning too.

Enjoy the video!

“To launch our first single in eight years, AT&T helped us search YouTube for every instance of fans using our music without our permission. And then we rewarded them for it. This film is made out of clips from all those videos. Thanks for being a fan”