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Image for John Butler Vs Super Bowl ad

John Butler Vs Super Bowl ad

in Local News

Update: (21/5/12)

Butler’s management has issued a statement announcing that the matter has been settled:
John Butler and USA advertising agency, Poptent, the creators of the Dannon Oikos yoghurt advertisement which initially aired during the 2012 Super Bowl, have come to a satisfactory settlement in relation to the use of a song in the advertisement that bore a strong similarity to his composition “Zebra”. The advertisement will no longer contain this particular piece of music and both parties are happy this issue is behind them. We thank all JBT fans worldwide for their support on this matter. No further comment will be entered into.

Hear the new music below.


Outraged John Butler fans have demanded to know why his song Zebra was heard soundtracking an ad starring John Stamos that premiered during yesterday’s Super Bowl, but John Butler’s management has assured us that he hasn’t sold his soul to an evil organic yoghurt conglomerate.

Butler’s management has announced that “the Oikos Greek yoghurt TV ad that aired during the Super Bowl yesterday featuring a song that sounds extremely similar to Zebra. John Butler and his management were not aware of this usage until yesterday, and we will be seeking advice as how to address the issue.”

A 30-second advertising spot during the Super Bowl reportedly cost $3.5 million this year so John Butler could be looking at a very nice payout or a lifetime supply of organic yoghurt if the ad is found to have plagiarised his 2003 hit.

Update:
The folks at Oikos Greek yoghurt have responded to the Butler rip-off crisis announcing on YouTube that “A question about the music in our Super Bowl commercial has been brought to our attention. We are working to fully understand and address the situation. We apologize for any concerns this has caused John Butler Trio’s band members and fans.”

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NoniDoll

NoniDoll said on the 7th Feb, 2012

it's not the same, but flip me sideways, it's deadly similar.

if "down under" can get done for being too close to the kookaburra song, oikos had better be shitting their pants.

not even john stamos' pretty face can save you now!

garthinho

garthinho said on the 7th Feb, 2012

ridiculously similar. it sounds as though someone has heard zebra, and wants to replicate it in a manner that'll ensure they can't be sued. i hope they can be, though.
also, their line 'possibly the best yoghurt in the world' is a blatant plagiarism of carlsberg's well-known 'probably the best beer in the world.'
they're probably stealing the yoghurt too.

grattan

grattan said on the 7th Feb, 2012

Update:
The folks at Oikos Greek yoghurt have responded to the Butler rip-off crisis announcing on YouTube that “A question about the music in our Super Bowl commercial has been brought to our attention. We are working to fully understand and address the situation. We apologize for any concerns this has caused John Butler Trio’s band members and fans.”

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

Presumably they will just pull the music from the ad.

I doubt they paid whoever claimed to write it very much in the first place so I wouldn't think there'd be that much money to be gained by JBT suing Danone or the supposed composer.

MorningAfterboy

MorningAfterboy said on the 7th Feb, 2012



What the fuck is there to "understand"? Ripped off a dude's tune, nothing more, nothing less.

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Feb, 2012



You can bet they didn't know about it.

They presumably paid some guy a pittance for some music that he ripped off from somewhere else.

The Snake Lady

The Snake Lady said on the 7th Feb, 2012

definite similarity... sounds very much like they have tried 'cleverly' to riff off the song zebra.

BundyandCola

BundyandCola said on the 7th Feb, 2012

nice headbutt lol

why does jet/are you gunna be my girl and iggy pop/lust for life come to mind?

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

I hope everyone realizes that US copyright law protects the imitator and the only real motive Danoe has to change the music is PR.

JBT wont see a cent. If John wants to have a cry about it, he should ask Sigur Ros how they feel every time their music is stolen by ads.

p1owz0r

p1owz0r said on the 7th Feb, 2012

It sounds very similar, but then Zebra is one of those riffs...I figured it out from messing around with my guitar....oh that sounds good...oh actually it sounds like Zebra....

Braveheart81

Braveheart81 said on the 7th Feb, 2012



How so?

Hinee

Hinee said on the 7th Feb, 2012

lolwut, they're identical.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/17/southpark_scientology.jpg

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 7th Feb, 2012



The sigur ros case set the precedent. They infer to it in that blog post. For those too lazy to click a link:



TL;DR change one note and you can get away with everything. So much that there is a market in the US ad market for sound-a-likes

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

I think Tom Waits has succesfully sued quite a few companies who ripped off his songs for ads.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

When? Though I'd be inclined to argue that he has money for a proper legal team/his music is much more established than JBT, Sigur Ros, etc.

berlinchair101

berlinchair101 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

From Wiki

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has joked about other artists who do (commenting "If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it?"). He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission. He has been quoted as saying, "Apparently, the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally, naked and purring on the hood of a new car", he said in a statement, referring to the Mercury Cougar. "I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor."

Waits filed his first lawsuit in 1988 against Frito-Lay. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an award of $2.375 million in his favor (Waits v. Frito-Lay, 978 F. 2d 1093 (9th Cir. 1992)).[55] Frito-Lay had approached Waits to use one of his songs in an advertisement. Waits declined the offer, and Frito-Lay hired a Waits soundalike to sing a jingle similar to Small Change's "Step Right Up", which is, ironically, a song Waits has called "an indictment of advertising". Waits won the lawsuit, becoming one of the first artists to successfully sue a company for using an impersonator without permission.

In 1993, Levi's used Screamin' Jay Hawkins' version of Waits' "Heartattack and Vine" in a commercial. Waits sued, and Levi's agreed to cease all use of the song and offered a full page apology in Billboard.[56] Waits found himself in a situation similar to his earlier one with Frito Lay in 2000 when Audi approached him, asking to use "Innocent When You Dream" (from Franks Wild Years) for a commercial broadcast in Spain. Waits declined, but the commercial ultimately featured music very similar to that song. Waits undertook legal action, and a Spanish court recognized that there had been a violation of Waits's moral rights in addition to the infringement of copyright. The production company, Tandem Campany Guasch, was ordered to pay compensation to Waits through his Spanish publisher. Waits was later quoted as jokingly saying the company got the name of the song wrong, thinking it was called "Innocent When You Scheme".[57]

In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a sound-alike singer. In 2007, the suit was settled, and Waits gave the sum to charity.[58]

Waits has also filed a lawsuit unrelated to his music. He was arrested in 1977 outside Duke's Tropicana Coffee Shop in Los Angeles. Waits and a friend were trying to stop some men from bullying other patrons. The men were plainclothes police, and Waits and his friend were taken into custody and charged with disturbing the peace. The jury found Waits not guilty; he took the police department to court and was awarded $7,500 compensation


I included the last part because he is a bad ass.

ThatDude123

ThatDude123 said on the 7th Feb, 2012

Ultimate badass, but the key difference there is that in each case there is a distinct product that can be considered property of the copyright owner, albeit the Waits "Voice" or his songwriting.

Where JBT, Sigur Ros and other acts luck out is that in most cases you are dealing with instrumentals. Which, as much as you copyright tunes and produce the sheet music itself, is much harder to make that claim and hold it up in court.

therat

therat said on the 7th Feb, 2012

Save the (fruits of the) forest!!

p1owz0r

p1owz0r said on the 7th Feb, 2012

Man I really fancy some yoghurt

gumbuoy

gumbuoy said on the 7th Feb, 2012



Talk to any session musician, and they'll tell you this is the brief for pretty much every ad-job ever.

One once told me like 2/3rds of ad-music briefs she'd worked with asked to sound like Coldplay, and usually Clocks.

Brian B

Brian B said on the 7th Feb, 2012

I think they stuffed up here because it is too close to the original.

heyrosetta

heyrosetta said on the 8th Feb, 2012

so, this is kinda like what john butler did to grinspoons just ace with c'mon now...

grattan

grattan said on the 21st May, 2012

New Butler approved music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5nk5QCRnDs