TWEET YOUR COMPLAINT?
- Oct 10, 2014
- 2 min read
Young Turks, the record label representing the English indie pop band The xx, has accused luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss(Hugo) of copying one of its songs in an advertisement without permission.
The allegations arose from an advertisement Hugo Boss released in April called Master the Light. Aimed at promoting optical frames and sunglasses, the ad featured a man wearing the products while walking and driving around a city, with a song playing in the background;that song is allegedly a “rip off” of The xx’s song “Intro” from the band’s 2009 album.
The first of many accusations against Hugo Boss arrived in the form of tweets starting on October 3, 2014, which stated, “As a firm built around original design, isn't it odd that you'd pay for such a poorly disguised fake?” said one tweet. Another which made a strong allusion to copyright infringement read, “Same key, bpm [beats per minute], proportions, melodies ... wow.”
Hugo Boss has not responded to any tweets nor have they commented on the matter. There are no reports of a formal complaint however, I do not think it is necessary at this point. Major news websites and magazines like Rolling Stone, ran stories about this incident and included youtube clips of both The xx’s song as well as the Hugo Boss ad for readers to compare. Though the label has not yet revealed what steps they further intend to take, it appears Hugo Boss has stopped running the commercial; youtube has removed all links to not only the ad but The xx’s song as well.
Could tweeting be a new forum to express a complaint? It seems as though it could given its effectiveness here. The advertisement is no longer visible, you could almost say the tweet’s effect is equivalent to that of an injunction, which is a common remedy sought in formal copyright infringement cases.
This incident and its effect could be a sign of the times or it could just be a successful fashion company’s attempt to mitigate what could become full fledge lawsuit which would likely end in the label’s favor. Regardless the reason, I am certain The xx hopes this will be the last time this happens for in 2011 Nokia smartphone ad also used what sounded like a poorly performed version of their song “VCR.” On the bright side, if it happens again, the label knows exactly what to do to get the potential infringer to stop, just tweet about it!
By: Nicole Harris, Associate Editor of Art, Publishing, Music & Fashion
Sources:
http://www.axs.com/hugo-boss-accused-of-ripping-off-the-xx-in-recent-commercial-22497
http://www.worldipreview.com/news/hugo-boss-advert-accused-of-infringing-indie-band-s-song-7266
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-xxs-record-label-calls-out-hugo-boss-ad-on-plagiarism-20141006
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