At a time when Apple launches whatever it did on Tuesday – sorry I am not exactly following all the details of this iPhone business, I still have an old old one – at a time when Apple gives away an entire new U2 album – I didn’t ask for it, and it was already in my library! – Apple may be running out of ideas…. Or stealing ideas from other people?
This is what the indie band OK Go is pretending, and after watching these two videos below, you aren’t gonna tell me they don’t have a case…. OK Go produced this clever, very technical video for their song ‘The Writing’s On The Wall’ about three months ago, and, well-deservedly, it won the MTV Video Music Award for best Visual Effects. The problem is that OK Go Manager, Andy Gershon revealed, in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, that the band had met with Apple in April ‘to pitch a visual concept involving one continual camera that circles around a room and displays different messages depending on the perspective’…. Exactly what you can experience in the video. Apple declined and the production company 1stAveMachine was hired instead.
However, during Apple’s global product launch on Tuesday, Apple premiered the video ‘Perspective’ and man does the concept look similar to the one in the OK Go original video! And according to Consequence of Sound, ‘not only did Apple hire 1stAveMachine as producers, it used the same exact director as OK Go’s video’.
‘The videos speak for themselves,’ declared Gershon, ‘and you can draw your own conclusions’. Sure it’s a total rip off!
The band is considering legal action, but they may not even have a case as Stanford law professor Mark Lemley explained: In the case of an ‘idea submission case’, someone who has pitched an idea in private can seek damages if the idea is used without their direct involvement. However, these cases usually require a non-disclosure agreement, and OK Go doesn’t appear to have one…
Shame on you Apple! It’s giving a very bad example to all these kids who are in love with Apple products, and there are millions of them, it’s giving license to plagiarism! The big company who goes to bed with Bono has lost its edge… Think different, think different my ass! No more ideas Apple? May be it’s time to drop more acid in this applesauce again.
