It just seems like harmless fun: people filming themselves lipsynching popular songs, and then sending the results to YouTube and Google Video. People have always done stuff like this: probably the fifth film ever made — after an accidential shot of the floor; sex; a cute puppy running around; and someone else filming the filmer — was somebody pretending to play a Scott Joplin song.
And people have been doing it ever since: it’s a Great American Tradition to totally make a fool of yourself on video pretending to perform a song you love. God bless the U.S.A.
Of course, sometimes other people see these videos, and there are unintended consequences.
For example, some might argue that the infamous video of a badly-coiffed Kevin Millar “performing” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” was obviously the tailsman that finally broke the decades-long curse. Probably not, though. It’s so silly that only a Yankees fan could hate it.
Or the RIAA, who have decided that the Great American Tradition of people filming themselves doing cover versions has gone far enough, and are sending cease-and-desist letters to those who dare to upload those videos.
Because a viral homemade video of a teenage girl dancing around singing Gnarls Barkley is going to damage them how, exactly? As a matter of fact, sometimes people who get every single copyright clearance up front do an amazing amount of damage to the music to which they film themselves lipsynching, or did you miss Kassia’s post about the Sgt. Pepper’s movie?
This reminds me of their attempt to stop little kids from taping songs off of the radio, another time-honored tradition woven into the very Fabric of American Life.
As we approach the 230th birthday of this Great Nation of Ours, what is one to think about an institution that so obviously desperately hate the way normal Americans interact with music? They clearly have such an antipathy towards normal God-fearing Americans, that some people may even begin to suspect that the RIAA are in league with the Terrorists.
Quick! Someone call Ann Coulter!
However, going after people who film themselves lipsynching other people’s songs is just the beginning. The RIAA has other, wide-ranging plans. These plans may effectively criminalize nearly every single music-loving American citizen.
Tomorrow, in a Medialoper Multiverse Exclusive, we will reveal those secret plans. At that time, you can evaluate to see if they affect you or not. In the meantime, just to be on the safe side, please stop enjoying music.