Vancouver’s latest Olympics debacle
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- This is embarrassing.
For Vancouver.
Local musician Nicole Scoffield wrote Sea to Skyway about the road connecting Vancouver and Whistler.
With the 2010 Olympics coming up, she thought she’d let the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee know, because as her song says >>>
I can see some good times on the road up ahead
Moment by moment without regret
The world together in the spirit of peace
Drinking hot chocolate under a maple leaf
Upon the sea to skyway …
Going higher and higher and higher and higher.
Nice.
But then >>>
I acknowledge and agree that VANOC and its licensees may in their discretion use the Proposal in any way and for any purpose whatsoever, without any further agreement with me or any other person, without any compensation to me or any other person, and without identifying me or any other person as the creator or source of the Proposal.
Accordingly, I hereby:
(a) grant to VANOC -exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, world-wide, fully transferable, fully sublicensable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, unlimited, and unrestricted right and license to use, disclose and exploit the Proposal (alone or in combination with other information, documents, and materials), in whole or in part, for any and all commercial and non-commercial purposes whatsoever, using any and all means, media and technologies now in existence or developed in the future, without any obligation or liability to me or any other person; and
(b) waive in favour of VANOC and its licensees any and all moral rights and rights of authorship that I have throughout the world in, to, or associated with the Proposal.
What ?!
It’s an Unsolicited Proposal Agreement produced by the committee and as Nicole says on her web page, signing it “would not only strip her from ownership of the song,” it would force her to waive “any and all moral rights and rights of authorship … ‘ .”
Has VANOC been talking to Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) do you think?
“Moreover, signing of the UPA was required as a condition of VANOC just listening to the song, and would hold whether or not VANOC actually later ends up using the song!” – says Nicole. “So if, after listening, VANOC decided that they do not like it, VANOC would still maintain the song’s ownership” and Nicole wouldn’t be able to do anything with it, anywhere.
“There is practically no way of initiating creative work to VANOC other than by first signing the UPA,” she says, continuing, “This request appears to be in contrast with VANOC’s claim that ‘it is a key objective of VANOC to ensure that all Canadians and others around the world are engaged in the 2010 Winter Games’, as stated in a VANOC email to us attempting to present some rationale for their request to sign the UPA.”
But she points out the debacle isn’t without humour, highlighting a few twists, to wit >>>
- Alison Dennis, a Richmond Olympic Oval’s Manager, who at the time was probably not aware of the existence of the UPA, left us a message saying “everybody loves the song” …and… “we would love to incorporate the song into our promotional material”. Unfortunately, since that message, Ms. Dennis has chosen not to answer any attempts of communication with her that we initiated. Listen to the recording of Alison Dennis’s message. Officially, the Sea To SkyWay CD is sealed and kept by Caroline Lötter, responsible for VANOC’s ‘Ceremonies’, and thus is not available to other VANOC’s employees. (Keep in mind that the song has been available to the rest of the world through this and other websites!)
- Both, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and the BC Premier Gordon Campbell provided us with very positive responses and suggestions that we send the song to VANOC or to its CEO John Furlong, which we did.
- A letter containing the song as a gift and sent to VANOC CEO Mr. John Furlong was intercepted by Marine King, VANOC’s Assistant Records Manager. We have no idea whether Mr. Furlong was informed about the existence of the letter.
Also see:
- Olympics bosses get nasty over Flickr pix
- Liberties group condemns Olympics ‘jail’ law
- Vancouver censors anti-Olympic art
- 2010 Olympics. Watching the watchers
And stay tuned because you know there’ll be more …
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
December, 2009
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Has VANOC been talking to Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s CRIA CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) do you think?
“Moreover, signing of the UPA was required as a condition of VANOC just listening to the song, and would hold whether or not VANOC actually later ends up using the song!” – says Nicole. “So if, after listening, VANOC decided that they do not like it, VANOC would still maintain the song’s ownership” and Nicole wouldn’t be able to do anything with it, anywhere.
“There is practically no way of initiating creative work to VANOC other than by first signing the UPA,” she says, continuing:
This request appears to be in contrast with VANOC’s claim that ‘it is a key objective of VANOC to ensure that all Canadians and others around the world are engaged in the 2010 Winter Games’, as stated in a VANOC email to us attempting to present some rationale for their request to sign the UPA.
Nicole points out the debacle isn’t without humour, highlighting a few humorous twists, to wit
* Alison Dennis, a Richmond Olympic Oval’s Manager, who at the time was probably not aware of the existence of the UPA, left us a message saying “everybody loves the song” …and… “we would love to incorporate the song into our promotional material”. Unfortunately, since that message, Ms. Dennis has chosen not to answer any attempts of communication with her that we initiated.
Listen to the recording of Alison Dennis’s message
Officially, the Sea To SkyWay CD is sealed and kept by Caroline Lötter, responsible for VANOC’s ‘Ceremonies’, and thus is not available to other VANOC’s employees. (Keep in mind that the song has been available to the rest of the world through this and other websites!)
* Both, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and the BC Premier Gordon Campbell provided us with very positive responses and suggestions that we send the song to VANOC or to its CEO John Furlong, which we did.
* A letter containing the song as a gift and sent to VANOC CEO Mr. John Furlong was intercepted by Marine King, VANOC’s Assistant Records Manager. We have no idea whether Mr. Furlong was informed about the existence of the letter.
Stay tuned.
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