Rammstein - Win Lawsuit Against Apocalyptica
The Regional Court of Berlin has convicted Apocalyptica for trademark infringement against Rammstein. The Finnish cello metallers face a fine of ?45,000.
The case concerns the advertising campaign launched in Germany for Apocalyptica's 2007 release Worlds Collide. Worlds Collide featured many guest musicians, including Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann and guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe on the track "Helden" (a David Bowie cover of "Heroes"). The band promoted the album's release on stickers, magazines and posters with the words "featuring Rammstein", this without the authorization of the band and their management.
UPDATED, in case you have trouble understanding: Apocalyptica used the name "Rammstein", which is a trademark, for commercial use without authorization of the trademark holder. The trademark holder (Rammstein and their management) rightfully filed a lawsuit against Apocalyptica for copyright infringement. They won.
The full article (in German) can be read here.
The case concerns the advertising campaign launched in Germany for Apocalyptica's 2007 release Worlds Collide. Worlds Collide featured many guest musicians, including Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann and guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe on the track "Helden" (a David Bowie cover of "Heroes"). The band promoted the album's release on stickers, magazines and posters with the words "featuring Rammstein", this without the authorization of the band and their management.
UPDATED, in case you have trouble understanding: Apocalyptica used the name "Rammstein", which is a trademark, for commercial use without authorization of the trademark holder. The trademark holder (Rammstein and their management) rightfully filed a lawsuit against Apocalyptica for copyright infringement. They won.
The full article (in German) can be read here.
Source: | thegauntlet.com |
Band profile: | Rammstein |
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SlaytanicGonzo |
05.01.2011 - 02:16 Written by Valentin B on 04.01.2011 at 21:01 If I had a succesful band, and another band can make money from it, then I would be glad. Rammstein didn't lose any money with this. And I guess Linderman and Apocalyptica are friends of some sorts if they performed together. So they don't hate each other or anything, there's no point of sueing them. That's just beign a douche.
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Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite |
05.01.2011 - 02:18 Written by [user id=98889] on 05.01.2011 at 02:07 ABsolutely true. Cause in fact I like Apocalyptica's music and hate Rammstein's but in this case Rammstein are right and Apocalyptica are totally wrong.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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Peyo Sinister |
05.01.2011 - 03:52
It isn't about Rammstein against Apocalyptice... it's all about the money and that shit happens when good bands, as Apocalyptica and Rammstein both are, go into the sell out MAINSTREAM!!!
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Valentin B Iconoclast |
05.01.2011 - 03:57 Written by SlaytanicGonzo on 05.01.2011 at 02:16 this is simply not how the industry (and logic) works. now individually i guess none of the guys at Rammstein would have given a fuck, but then again their management can also act on behalf of the band, and so it seems that Till Lindemann personally brought the guys from Apocalyptica to court and pointed the finger at them, when probably none of the band members involved: 1.actually went into the courtroom 2.gives a fuck 3.will get/lose any notable amount of money(if it's anyone's fault, it's the guy's who did the promotion) plus, look at it this way: on the Apocalyptica promotion poster/whatever they say they have a song featuring Rammstein, but it only had one of the 6 members on it. that is selling a lie and i would be kinda pissed if i were to buy the album expecting some kind of jam between R+ and Apocalyptica but only a cello metal song with Till's voice on it. now on the other hand Amon Amarth's song "Live For the Kill" features the 3 cello-playing founding members of Apocalyptica playing a cello part for something like 2 minutes and on the album it says "featuring Apocalyptica" so that is true, you're not selling any lie.
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RavenKing |
05.01.2011 - 04:12 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 04.01.2011 at 18:25 Indeed. It was false advertisement and inappropriate use of a copyrighted trademark. In fact, it didn't feature Ramstein.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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!J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
05.01.2011 - 04:22 !J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by RavenKing on 05.01.2011 at 04:12 Rammstein feature it didn't. False advertisement and inappropriate use of a copyrighted trademark it was.
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RavenKing |
05.01.2011 - 04:25 Written by Legendary on 04.01.2011 at 22:24 Welcome to the real world, where capitalism and materialism reign over everything and money is the only true god. Sorry but that's how this world is: full of greed and egoism. The world is corrupted to the core and will always be because the human nature is corrupted. The promise of a better future is a lie.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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Daggon Underpaid M.D. |
05.01.2011 - 09:59 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 04.01.2011 at 18:25 This resumes the entire thread, so I can't understand why everyone is bitching about this, business are business, nuff said.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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garmling Account deleted |
05.01.2011 - 13:05 garmling
Account deleted
I'm pretty sure this lawsuit was not commenced by Rammstein members...it's their money eating management...if you don't know, managers of such bands get the bigger part of money earned by the bands them selves...
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GT Coffee!! Staff |
05.01.2011 - 13:30
Holy crap there's a lot of stupid comments here. Can only agree with what have been said by Marcel and the likes; nothing wrong with suing someone for using a trademark without permission.
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skrätte I Hate You |
05.01.2011 - 17:13
Glad there are some people around here with some sense. I was going to post almost exactly what GT posted. I didn't, though, because I don't need to be sued. Also of note, no matter how much you think Rammstein sucks, they have rights (and Apocalyptica sucks more).
---- [url="http://www.metalxradio.com"][/url]
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Mikyz |
05.01.2011 - 17:52
A chance to get money, I don't think anyone would pass up such an opportunity, not in this greedy world at least. Whether they had to take legal action is irrelevant, the fact is they did and won compensation. Hopefully for Apocalyptica their profits were much more substantial than what they lost in the lawsuit.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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Winterthrone |
05.01.2011 - 19:35 Written by TheWiseNoob on 04.01.2011 at 22:42 Yeah right I've been owned lol! This is reality I'm not defending it I'm just stating the facts. You can do like Ostriches and put your head in the sand if you want, but it is the cruel reality of the music business. And 'ass-owning prose' is not gonna change anything to that reality. Also, I'm not the one dismissing solutions other than suing people... I just stated the fact that the music business was full of stories like that and Rammstein wasn't worse than any other band in the music business in suing Apocalyptica for a clear case of Trademark violation.
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Aetherius |
06.01.2011 - 11:51 Written by [user id=35732] on 04.01.2011 at 17:38 I think Array said it best, lmao. Perhaps more dildos indeed and maybe a sex swing, who knows, it is Rammstein after all
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Ellrohir Heaven Knight |
08.01.2011 - 00:23
Czech singer Daniel Landa has a verse "if i weren't rough i wouldn't like Rammstein" in one of his song...and he definitely made some serious money from selling CDs with this songs... if they only know...
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep
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RavenKing |
08.01.2011 - 01:40 Written by Ellrohir on 08.01.2011 at 00:23 There is no legal issue with this. It's only mentioning a name, like comedians do. It is not considered as using a trademark to sell your own stuff. You can find tons of things like that and there is no lawsuit. You can have a laugh at others and there is no lawsuit. The problem here is Apocalyptica falsely pretended that the band Ramsteinn was involved. It is false advertisement.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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Rupert |
08.01.2011 - 04:54 Written by TheWiseNoob on 04.01.2011 at 22:42 Right on.
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Windrider Raureif |
08.01.2011 - 22:50
Wtf are you all against Rammstein?? Apocalyptica are dumbasses with their attitude "two members equals the whole band to feature". This Cello-core is already starting to get on my nerves anyway -.-
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floydiac |
09.01.2011 - 01:38
Are people actually that thick? When people guest on albums there are clear permissions on what you can do. Anything outside of this is a breach. Also the fact that if the name rammstein us no longer treated as a trademark they would lose all right to use it as such in the future. Making a more serious infringement impossible to deal with. I's not about rammstein or butthurt. Its about protection of earnings. It its also unknown at this point if the action was brought by the band members or pilgrim management, so don't be so quick to concern. If you were in business you would want to protect your earnings the same
---- !WARNING! May talk shit !WARNING!
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Introspekrieg Totemic Lust Elite |
09.01.2011 - 06:23
Guys buy my new album featuring guest appearances by IRON MAIDEN, OPETH, and METALLICA w/ Cliff Burton!* *look-alikes
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Valentin B Iconoclast |
10.01.2011 - 21:23 Written by Mikyz on 05.01.2011 at 17:52 and the using of Rammstein's name and logo wasn't a cash grab? how can anyone side with Apocalyptica's promotion people on this issue is beyond me. they misused a recognized trademark of another band, they were selling a goddamned lie FFS. it's obvious they were just trying to lure more people to buy the album and hope that Rammstein's management wouldn't notice.. well, they did, and they completely rightfully sued someone who misused the Rammstein name in order to sneakily get more money. LAWYERED.
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Mikyz |
10.01.2011 - 22:36 Written by Valentin B on 10.01.2011 at 21:23 Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Rammstein suing Apocalyptica. What you said is exactly what I meant by that comment because in the end we live in a dog-eat-dog world where cash as the main catalyst. Nothing can provoke unethical behavior as much as money.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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Muse of Light |
12.01.2011 - 23:52 Written by [user id=6449] on 04.01.2011 at 18:22 This. So much WTF it's not even funny.
---- "My past holds only pain and loss. I will conquer it by creating the perfect future." - Ixidor, reality sculptor
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Muse of Light |
12.01.2011 - 23:58 Written by DrunkenFuck on 04.01.2011 at 21:23 This is one of the reasons I will never sign with a record label. They're useless and greedy, and this is just one more example of a label/artist splitting hairs to wrest some cash out of someone else. Speaking as both a musician and a businessperson, if Apocalyptica had used my band name because one or more members were being featured on the album, I wouldn't have objected - more attention for the band, more press, more promotion, more money. Exactly how was Rammstein hurt by Apocalyptica's promotion of them when more than one band member was featured on their album? I am not seeing any actual harm here. In legal technicalities, yes, Apo could be sued, but before filing a lawsuit against someone, one should be certain that actual harm has been done. There are far too many petty lawsuits, and this is just one more example of petty greed.
---- "My past holds only pain and loss. I will conquer it by creating the perfect future." - Ixidor, reality sculptor
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Muse of Light |
13.01.2011 - 00:00 Written by Valentin B on 10.01.2011 at 21:23 There's this thing called royalties, which Rammstein undoubtedly received for featuring on the album - the more copies of the album that sell, the more money the band/artists make.
---- "My past holds only pain and loss. I will conquer it by creating the perfect future." - Ixidor, reality sculptor
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Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff |
18.01.2011 - 12:14
Man, I feel like the last guy on this planet not suing anyone...
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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