Television. You have one of those, right? You’re not sure, are you? That’s okay. Go look quick and see if you do. They’re usually in your living room. Found one? Good. We’re on the same page now.
So there’s a show on the television that I’ve written about before, and it’s called Glee, and it is still on television for reasons I am unclear on. Because it is a bad show and you should not be watching it. On account of its badness. That’s an opinion, of course, but as we all know, there is no such thing as a wrong opinion. Thus, Glee is terrible, no question. Stop watching it. Assuming you were previously, which I realize is a terrible thing for me to have accused you of doing.
But some people do continue to watch Glee, and again, please don’t ask me why. And it’s because of people watching the Glee that recently a discovery was made about the Glee that determined a whole new way that the show is terrible. See, while before, Glee was terrible just because it was an show about a bunch of idiotic teenagers singing popular songs in between dealing with their emotional issues on a weekly basis, the show is now terrible because it is still that, a teenage dramedy/karaoke show, and also because it plagiarizes music from more obscure, much more talented artists without giving them proper credit. Which is bad, because that is called plagiarism and it is a thing that is often done by people who have no discernible talent of their own. Which I’m pretty sure is the Glee show tagline.
Once upon a time, there was a musician by the name of Jonathan Coulton. As a musician, Jonathan Coulton makes music frequently, as he was back in 2005 when he recorded a cover of Sir Mix-a-lot’s popular, idiotic song “Baby Got Back.” You and I and every other person in the nation was unaware of this fact, as Jonathan Coulton is not what we would call a popular artist. Which is why, here in the now in 2013, the makers of Glee felt fairly safe in going ahead and just basically stealing the entire arrangement and melody of his version of the song for one of their idiotic episodes. And they would have gotten away with it, too, were it not for the fact that the Internet exists and is capable of alerting unpopular musical artists that terrible TV shows are currently stealing their hard work.
Which is what happened on Twitter, when Jonathan Coulton’s fans alerted him on Twitter that he was being ripped off. Here’s him reacting.
You may have also noticed, if you listened to both of the versions of the song that I linked to earlier like you were supposed to, that both songs use the lyrics “Johnny C’s in trouble,” which is not in the Sir Mix-a-lot original. Which makes sense if your name is Jonathan Coulton, that you would say Johnny C is in trouble, as that is your name. As for Glee, though I don’t watch the show which makes my irrational hatred for it all the more irrational, I’m fairly certain they don’t have a character named Johnny C. Meaning that, even at plagiarizing, Glee is still terrible at doing it.
Anyway, once the brouhaha began to rise on the Internet, as these things tend to do, it became necessary for the makers of Glee to respond in some way. Which they did, when one of the Glee makers said the following on his Twitter:
Get that, did you? Not only did Glee shamelessly rip the guy off, they now expect him to grateful to them for having done it. Some people just can’t see the opportunity of having their work stolen from them and then being given no credit for it. Doesn’t Jonathan Coulton realize what a goldmine this whole thing was for him, when he wasn’t paid or given any kind of attribution whatsoever? Ingrate.
Now, the unfortunate thing about all this is that, whereas if Glee had stolen a song that Jonathan Coulton wrote himself without credit, he would now own the Fox Network, the law is a bit more murky when it comes to stealing a cover you did of someone else’s song. Since the song belongs to Sir Mix-a-lot, Coulton’s stylistic changes he made to the song aren’t copyrightable, and thus can’t be protected. Which means Glee may not have broken the law in doing what they did, even if they were huge douches in having done so. Which is why they essentially gave Coulton the finger in response. And why he is basically giving it back in his re-response.
Since Glee was taking the position that they would be more than happy to make money off of Jonathan Coulton’s song without reimbursing him in any way or fashion, and then expect him to say thank you after the fact, he decided he’d horn in on some of that sweet plagiarizing action by ripping off the ripoff of his own song and then make some money of his own. So you can now purchase (legally, I do believe) from iTunes Jonathan Coulton’s cover of Glee’s cover of Jonathan Coulton’s cover of “Baby Got Back.” Only $0.99. Get your copy today. The artwork alone is worth the cost.
The lesson to be learned from all this, hopefully, is that cheaters never win. Except that they will win, because they are a massive syndicated show that airs on a national broadcast network which will continue to make millions upon millions in profit for the foreseeable future, no matter how many musicians they step upon along the way. So I guess the lesson is the same as it’s always been: Ugh, Glee.
Bismarck resident Erik Hagen is the author of the SodBlog and do people even still watch Glee? I thought it was cancelled. Was that House? It was probably House. Send your emails to SodBlog@me.com or visit his website at SodBlog.com.