It recently came to my attention that a book entitled "Making Music Videos: Everything You Need to Know from the Best in the Business" by Lara M. Schwartz, references me by name (on page 111) in an innacurate and unflattering manner.
What's the deal, you ask?
Here's the nutshell verision: In 1998 I produced the music video for Outkast's song "Rosa Parks." Rosa Parks, of course, is the civil rights icon who, in 1955, stood against injustice... by sitting down (i.e., refusing to give up her seat to white passengers). Some fifty years later, Ms. Parks' handlers decided to sue Outkast for unauthorized use of her name. The lawsuit was at first thrown out of court and then reinstated. This went on for years.
Seven years had passed since producing the video, when I received a summons from a Federal court in Michigan, naming me as a defendant in this five-billion dollar lawsuit.
Yes, "Billion." With a "B."
Sure, I produced the music video, but I had nothing to do with the creation or production of the song, the naming of the song, the recording of the song, the distribution of the song, etc. Still, being named as a defendant in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit is more than a little unsettling and it's fair to say I didn't get much sleep for a spell. Two lawyers and five thousand dollars later, a judge dismissed me from the case, citing "fraudulent joinder." That is, he acknowledged that I had absolutely nothing to do with any of this; Ms. Parks' attorneys (one of which was the infamous Johnny Cochran) wrongfully included me -- along with a few other miscellaneous defendants -- for strategic purposes. Having emerged from the cracks of an abusive legal system, I was relieved that this unpleasant epsiode in my life came to an end.
Ahhh, but it continues.
I recently performed a search for my name on the Amazon.com website. Aside from the usual videos I am associated with, I was surprised to see my name emerge in connection with the aforementioned "how-to" book on music video production. The author never called me, never interviewed me, never made any attempt to contact me, yet felt compelled to include me in a passage where she glosses over one of the most notorious and complex civil legal proceedings of the 21st century with a few tidbits gleaned from Wikipedia, without so much as picking up a phone and consulting a legal expert or calling one of the very subjects she so freely maligns to suit her purposes.
Here's the context in which my reputation was sullied:
The author wrote a brief section about the importance of obtaining talent releases prior to production. Releases are important, yes they are. If you film someone, you need them to sign a release. If you film someone's property, you need the owner to sign a release. Common sense. If you put someone or some identifiable thing in your video, you need permission. For Ms. Schwartz, however, it's apparently okay to misrepresent someone in a printed medium without such permission: On page 111, she uses me as an extreme example of what happens when one fails to obtain a talent release, the implication being that my lack of diligence as a producer somehow caused 90-year-old Rosa Parks to demand five-billion dollars from a couple of young rappers.
Huh? What the...?
The Rosa Parks case had nothing to do with the video producers obtaining -- or not obtaining -- a release! Ms. Parks did not appear in the video, her image was not depicted in the video, she is not referenced in the video. Her name is not mentioned anywhere in the song (it's just the title), and even if it were,
we don't record any sound when making a music video, we play back a previously recorded audio track to which the artists lip-synch. I had nothing to do with the song. I had nothing to do with this case.
Outkast was sued for using "Rosa Parks" as the title of their song, without obtaining Rosa Parks's permission. Perhaps they should have had Ms. Parks sign a release before putting her name on their album covers, but it had nothing to with the production or the producers of the video.
While Ms. Schwartz accurately states that I was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, she fails to mentioned that I was summarily dismissed by the judge.
She goes on to state that "Outkast, the record label and the producers paid Parks a cash settlement to end the case." I think she meant the producers of the
album, but by positioning this paragraph right after mentioning my name, it comes across as if I paid cash to settle the case.
What my next steps will be, I need to think about. I'm surely going to insist that the good folks at Amazon.com remove page 111 from their "read it now" link. And I will demand that the publishers of the book remove all references to me in future printings.
I love making films. I take pride in my job and have a reputation for solving problems and making intelligent decisions. I don't know what damage this could do for my future employment or business dealings. But sheez, if you're going to include me in a book about "Making Music Videos," why not ask me about some of the videos I've made. Ask me about working with Outkast, or Ice Cube. Ask me about the treatments I've written. Ask me how I persuaded the manager of the Disney Ranch not to kick our lead rapper off the set. Ask me how I can make a $50,000.00 video look like we spent a million. Just ask. I'm easy to find, but if you're not going to put forth a little effort to get me on the phone or drop me an e-mail, I'd just as soon not be mentioned in your manuscript.
And if you're considering using someone else's name in your book in an unflattering manner, I suggest you have them sign a release.
-- blm
Our DVD "Cuckoo Concertos, Vol. 1" was the recipient of a 2008 "Mom's Choice Award" on Friday in the "Home Entertainment/DVD" category. We're very honored to have received this prestigious accolade. We're in the planning stages of Volume 2, which promises to hold even more fun and surprises for children of all ages.
