Franz Ferdinand Sends Web-Sheriff After Pirates
Written by Ernesto on January 14, 2009Confessed pirates themselves, Franz Ferdinand have recently taken a pro-piracy stance, encouraging fans to download some of their work. It was therefore quite a surprise to hear that the band has recently hired the infamous Web-Sheriff to stop people from downloading their recently leaked album “Tonight”.
Franz Ferdinand are a band from Glasgow, Scotland, and were formed in 2001. The band has had quite a few hits, and received NME awards for the best album and track of 2005, and for the best live act in 2006.
Last year, the band were working on their yet-to-be-released studio album “Tonight”. Like many other albums, however, a copy of “Tonight” leaked out before the official release date, and it is now widely available online. Given the previous pro-piracy stance of the band, which got them on the front page of Digg, you wouldn’t expect that they would make a big deal out of it.
The contrary is true. The band, together with the record label, have instructed the one and only Web-Sheriff – who also works for Prince, Michael Jackson and Village People – to take on the sites that posted the album, or links to it. One of the sites that received a takedown notice recently is Scene Releases. Web-Sheriff wrote in an email to the site:
On behalf of Domino Records and Franz Ferdinand, we would kindly ask you not to post copies of ‘Tonight’ on your site. We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting Franz Ferdinand, but the label and artist would greatly appreciate your co-operation in removing your links to the pirate files in question.
Web-Sheriff, who sent similar emails to dozens of other sites, is known for his politeness – if you cooperate, that is. Normally, this takedown request would hardly be newsworthy, but this one is special. Only a few months ago, Franz Ferdinand openly encouraged its fans to pirate one of their new tracks, advocating downloading using LimeWire. They even confessed to being pirates themselves, by admitting copying CDs for use on their iPods – currently illegal in the UK. So, understandably, the partnership with Web-Sheriff comes as quite a surprise.
Faolan, one of the editors of Scene Releases, was as baffled as we are, and decided to ask the sheriff for an explanation. Instead of explaining why Franz Ferdinand performed this 180, Web-Sheriff replied with a list of threats, claiming that Scene Releases could be held liable for putting links up to the unreleased album. He replied:
Joking aside, you are currently acting as a de facto digital distributor of this (unreleased) album and, if you do not remove / de-activate the links that you have published, our clients shall be obliged to take legal action both to stop what you are doing and to seek compensation for the (extensive) commercial losses directly arising from your illegal activities.
Furthermore, the sheriff stressed that the email should not be shared with third parties, a tactic also employed by UK lawyers Davenport Lyons, in an attempt to stifle discussion. Faolan told TorrentFreak that the reply from the sheriff inspired him to keep the conversation going. He believes that he didn’t break any laws by merely linking to files that are hosted on other sites. In fact, the links that Scene Releases posted at the bottom of their article were already dead (removed by the associated hosting sites) by the time Web Sheriff sent his reply.
Scene Releases was not the only release blog that was contacted by Web-Sheriff, the conversation that he had with RLSLOG is just as entertaining. After RLSLOG pointed out to Web-Sheriff that he misspelled the domain name, he didn’t back off, and sent the following demands:
You must also arrange for the following apology to be published on the relevant page of the site for a period of seven (7) days : “RSLOG wishes to apologies to Franz Ferdinand, Domino Records and Web Sheriff for the disruption caused to their sales, marketing and promotion plans by our publishing of pirate file details relating to the unreleased album “Tonight”.
Yes, you’re reading it correctly, the Web -Sheriff is asking RLSLOG (or RSLOG) to make an apology, and he repeated his spelling mistake. The admin ignored all his requests, and replied with the following email:
Thanks for good laugh, i will probably publish this whole conversation somewhere, it’s too good to remain unknown! Once again, learn to type instead of drinking brandy in saloon.
Yours, Old Shaterhand
The question remains – does Franz Ferdinand know about the involvement of Web Sheriff and his threatening tone towards the site admins, or is it all orchestrated by the record label? We hope that it’s the latter, but thus far the band hasn’t responded to our inquiries. Franz Ferdinand’s new album Tonight will be available in stores on January 26th.
Previously: EU Conceals Anti-Piracy Treaty Documents
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93 Responses
Hypocrisy at its finest! I expect them to lose a few fans through this.
http://www.fetchmp3.com/search.php?Term=Franz+Fer...
This leaves me baffled. Why the turnaround? They are going to lose far more than they gain from this.
Usually this is the work of the record label but the band is also usually aware of it. Very similar circumstances with the new Animal Collective. When the singer of the band Grizzly Bear posted a link to leaked track, web sheriff did the same thing, also demanding an apology.
Just like Dylan sang, "You don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing."
they were probally brainwashed by Web-Sheriff ,or they are really pissed that someone leaked the CD to the net without their knowlege/approval……….
nothing on rlslog about their apology, be warned tho if you go to their site be prepared to be hit with ad`s and such………….
and get hit with pop-behinds
"http://www.websheriff.com
Hey Everyone,
Links being killed and IPs harvested, so please simply respect the artist's wishes on this and take-it-off-line. Thanks."
-> a dozen more links posted :D
lolz "IPs harvested" yeah that guy knows how rapidshare works.
Btw: "by admitting copying CDs for use on their iPods – currently illegal in the UK" <– wtf how are you supposed to use an mp3 player in the UK then? is downloading mp3s legal or how would you get anything on it?
Nor do I need a zoologist to spot the postings of a troll.
they're fuckin shit anyway and can stick their new album up their arse.
Fuck these guys and Fuck Web Sheriff.
I never listened to nor ever gave a piss about this
group, but now they want to be hypocrites Downloading
this crap just as a big fuck you.
Such a shame… after the first article being on diggs front page i actually took time to check them out, didnt hurt my ears too much but this has really stung my ears more than if they were all off key.
So many words come to mind, turncoats, sellouts, backstabbers,hypocrites… but will reserve them for a little later time… giving these people a chance to explain themselves and their disgraceful behavior.
Remember FF, Metallica was once a loved and cherished band too…
for those of you who do not pay attention to history, it has a nasty habit of coming back and biting you on the ass.
Cheers!
http://www.eZee.se
When a band tells me to torrent their stuff, it makes me want to buy their stuff more.
I DL'd the album when it leaked, I've been waiting for it. It's fantastic. It has this 70's party vibe in it. Too bad for this Web Sheriff thing. Not very effective.
An announcement on the official site reads:
“Franz have covered David Bowie’s 1977 single Sound And Vision for a new compilation marking the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1. The album features contemporary artistzzzz covering a song from each year since the station’s first broadcast in 1967. edit….The whole shabang doesn’t appear to be for charity so point your browsers towards Limewire soon, kiddies!”
Always knew FF were pseuds…
An announcement on the official site reads:
“Franz have covered David Bowie’s 1977 single Sound And Vision for a new compilation marking the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1. The album features contemporary artistzzzz covering a song from each year since the station’s first broadcast in 1967. edit….The whole shabang doesn’t appear to be for charity so point your browsers towards Limewire soon, kiddies!”
Art-Punk? Feh – I always knew FF were pseuds…
I think they suck, but this makes me want to seed their album for a month or two. Asshats.
OK, Web-Sheriff with his six shooter says "On behalf of Domino Records and Franz Ferdinand (…)" and the band did not respond to inquiries, so I assume they do know what's happening. Although I do not listen to their music, I'm downloading their stuff right now. It will lend on my shared folder which is shared with eMule and KCeasy, which means a good bunch of networks. And guess what: it's totally legal in Spain. I think Web-Sheriff and Franz Ferdinand should look for "streisand effect" on Wikipedia… Maybe reflecting about "practicing what you preach" would also be nice for the band…
No, they won't, they sounds great!
Idiots, they spelled "apologise" wrongly as well.
This might explain it a bit better:
http://ezee.se/articles-blog/2008/04/14/uk-music-...
"Whenever I see that silly Web-Sheriff logo I'm always reminded of TPB legal page and the letter published on there. "
LOL! Me too!
I keep forgetting that they are a seperate organization and website… i hear web sherriff and i think of how badly they got it on TPB :)
Like a bad penny… he keeps coming back… for more ridicule :P
Yeah, I agree.
As exemplified in the NIN sales on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_7866952_18?i...
The album was available FREE and PROMOTED via torrent, yet it went on to # 1 on Amazon.
Trent knows how to treat his customers, and his customers appreciated and bought his product. These industry folk need to take some notes, wealth and perception of wealth is not created by artist's music alone anymore. When all it comes down to is being some music on your computer their is no perceived value in that music.
The value is in other goods, such as concerts:
"Concerts post record year despite economy"
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,7052744...
"Another Record Year For The Concert Industry"
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/04/concert-revenues...
The music industry is fine, it's the record industry that's getting left in the dust.
Franz: If your stuff is being pirated and your OK with the general idea, then don't start going after your customers. They might get pissed and stop buying your stuff.
People have been laughing at them for a looooong time now:
http://thepiratebay.org/legal
(White Stripes / WEB SHERIFF 12th from the top)
Thanks for information ;)
__________________________
http://kisalt.net/d2
band sux anyway.
what a bunch of idiots. web sherrif is one of the biggest douches on the internet. Nobody takes him seriously.. they just laugh. what a tool
I don't think franz ferdinand themselves have had anything to do with it.
In an interview they did recently, Alex was talking about people posting tracks from the album on youtube, and how he didn't mind that, but Domino did.
I still have faith in the guys; and there's not much they can do about their label's actions, unfortunately.
"Once again, learn to type instead of drinking brandy in saloon."
….Am I the only one who finds this hilarious?
lmfao wtf web sheriff xD. uh in case you forgot you DONT own the internet! go police your own backyard and get lost.
by the way shouldn't the badge say removing your rights on the internet?
ive lost all respect i had for them and may they burn
…..Mephsito
hrm legally telling people to get get your stuf and when they do that a seocnd time you call the feds on htem, wonder if thats a defense in court where you could claim look they didnt say not to before i went and got it.
perhaps they should die off and go back to nohting ness they deserve too , whats wong lil ferdinand no one now wants to goto a concert after you send lawyers after some kids.
and they say artists arent suing people.
See its an i toild ya so about artists too.
Whenever I see that silly Web-Sheriff logo I'm always reminded of TPB legal page and the letter published on there. :P
I think it's a bit misleading to say This band are pirate themselves just based on the fact that they admit to copying CD's that they already purchased for use on their mp3 players alone (if that's what happened).
It's possible that Franz wants you to download and spead their album. This web sheriff thing seems like a publicity stunt to anger the pirates and therefore:
as "* Anonymous said:
I think they suck, but this makes me want to seed their album for a month or two. Asshats."
they will get more exposure. Either way, if they are taking the Metallica POV and saying downloading is bad, or if they are playing a mind game and trying to boost their exposure; they lose my respect, and therefore I will not be listening to their music. They aren't worth listening to because of sh*tty decisions like this. Now, what they produce isn't art anymore, it's tainted with greed. I'll listen to other bands instead.
Never liked FF anyways, no worries :D
the funny thing is that web-sheriff came to my site and told me that it was a good site that didnt post any "illegal" material, i was so fucking mad, i'm a good guy now apperently…
i just banned the shit out of his IP, he might have a couple of other ip's
the funny thing is that web-sheriff came to my site and told me that it was a good site that didnt post any "illegal" material, i was so fucking mad, i'm a good guy now apperently…
i just banned the shit out of his IP, he might have a couple of other ip's but still.
….
they lost me as a fan.
Holy crap you guys like jumping down a band's throat super quick.
don't blame FF, they are just obeying their masters.
yeah, without knowing if Franz had anything to do with it, some people are pretty quick to get hostile. I think 'jumping to conclusions' springs to mind…
Oh and the metallica comparisons are retarded! They SUED their fans. And spoke about it. In person. As someone pointed out, a lot of small bands are signed to record labels that go about this kind of stuff 'on their behalf'.
@ nobody: "the band did not respond to inquiries, so I assume they do know what's happening"
FFS, you really think a nationally successful band in the week of launching their highest profile album to date REALLY have time to respond to a TF email? They'll be all over the country doing promotion. Think about it.
@ezee they never learn anything thats why they called retards. That web sherif dude is the funiest of all dudes. He picked his career wrong he should be a comedian.
Brain-washed by Web-Sheriff… come on mate, give them a bit more credit than that.
"You don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing."
I guess you must mean piracy is increasing at an exponential rate right?
Download the album and spread it, FUCK WEB SHERIFF, The internet is laughing at this 'Sheriff'
Dont you know, you have to buy the very same record again, but off Itunes. Although you aren't really buying it. You are paying the high and mighty Apple for the a license that permits your beggar ears to enjoy such bountifull music.
The route of the band who feels they are not making enough money is to go after the pirates.
Franz Ferdinand are crap anyway, rock music is 40 years out of date. Nobody listens to this music anymore, unless you are a teenager, and even then, give it a few more years and they will laugh at their own youthful musical tastes.
For example, when I was a teenager I liked U2. Can one get any sicker than that?
I've never heard of this band in the first place. What in hell. I agree with TerribleTony. Well not with the u2 and rock music part but with what he said about bands going after piracy only if they don't make enough money.
dxtr
http://stuckinframes.blogspot.com
Franz Ferdinand are fags! They're going to sell millions of their new album anyways, they'll get massive radio play, appear on compilations etc.
Wow, so any kind of "copying" is illegal in the UK? Even if there's no copy protection and you legally own it? And i always thought the laws we have round here were fucked up.
I take it that Web Sheriff is some American outfit.
Yep! The UK is pretty much overrun by the MAFIAA lobbyists and when they say jump, the govt says "how high?"
I saw something rather interesting on rlslog. A bunch of people hosted this album on file sharing sites and of course the links would go down very quickly (probably reported by the sherrif or the band itself) but as soon as the link went down, another 4 were hosted again by users and following through this whole thread you can see a battle between file sharing services taking links down and people simply re-hosting them. It appears to go through rapidshare, depositfiles, and in one case megaupload. Live links on the bottom, dead ones at the top.
They must change now, or be doomed.
There shall eventually be the end of the sinner's game,
and their life and death shall be just the same.
Écrasez l'Infâme! Crush the infamous thing!
Roze
In this battle, the ones who report the links and take them down are the sinners, and the holy spirit has already a will that they shall go to hell. It is possible that the will of the holy spirit may now need to be carried out, that vengence may now need to be taken, that they may now need to be sent to hell.
Écrasez l'Infâme! Crush the infamous thing!
Roze
At the very least, as stated in the article, they can be polite.
Yee Haw, Freeze! Its the Web Siff! LOL, what a joke!
anonymity.pro.tc
I seriously doubt the band had any involvement in the decision, it was more than likely all done by their label.
Well, they are international.
And internationally, these sinners, too, shall go to hell.
Écrasez l'Infâme! Crush the infamous thing!
Roze
I just bought one of their CDs with a gift card yesterday, and I plan on returning it (since its unopened). Time to DL.
F**K U WEBSHERIF GET a LIFE AND A BETA JOB P***K UR MOM MUST BE ASHAMED OF U
"On behalf of Domino Records and Franz Ferdinand…"
SOUNDS like Franz Ferdinand had something to do with it. Read the article next time.
Maybe they were setup to appear as bad guys. And black mailed to keep their mouths shut.
I think they may just be pissed. There's nothing wrong with piracy but pre-releases are unfair to the artists. And movies – wait until it's released too. Come on, it's not /that/ important.
However, once it's released…fair game.
I seriously doubt any of the band had any idea at all that their record company were hiring this web-moron.
You have to realise a signed band have very little control over their marketing and distribution methods, and almost all of this kind of crap is done purely by the label without the band ever knowing (with permission pre-granted by some clause in their contract).
So the title of this article is highly misleading, and probably totally inaccurate.
P.S. UK anti-piracy laws on paper may seem pretty bad, but there is a major difference between here and the US, our country doesn't enforce them. Most of them are only on the books because of international treaty, and thanks to the fact that out court system isn't as sue happy and corporate friendly as the US system, the chances of a simple file sharer getting sued is very, very slim.
The police tend to only go after criminal pirates – perhaps counterfeiters would be a better term for them – and as has been reported on this site, the only people successfully sued are people who didn't even bother to turn up and defend themselves, so thus lost by default.
they're brain-dead they got a fucking bullet in the head
That doesn't prove anything though, other than web sheriff thinking:
"we may as well throw the band's name in there since their record hired us"
it's still jumping to conclusions to assume they had anything to do with it…
sincerely
me and baby jesus.
(yeah, baby jesus had something to do with this message – I hope you believe that as well)
If they are allowing it to happen, they agree with it. Until Franz comes out and says otherwise the conclusion is there to be drawn to.
Yes baby jesus… HISTARICAL
"I still have faith in the guys; and there's not much they can do about their label's actions, unfortunately."
Oh yes there is. They can choose not to sign with certain labels. Chances are those labels don't have their act in gear or aren't telling the whole truth anyway.
Glasvegas is another band that "didn't know what their label was doing" and all the previous demos they sent out to blogs were met with take down notices (some blogs were canceled, some had the post removed including interviews, whether links were there or not, active or not). Then it was realized the label's own marketing dept. was giving permissions and sending out demos, but failed to inform the "enforcement dept".
Then the band talks about going on this 3 million dollar holiday to write a new album for the label. Do they really think they aren't going to pay for that?
This is stupidity. If bands want to be paid more than $.05/album, they had better stop blaming the consumer for poor sales. The consumer did not develop this fat cat model of business where only an elite few can produce music that we all MUST listen to.
It's the bands that need to wise up and go to work producing stuff that counts and can compete in the marketplace that people want to hear. Just depending on a label to over-produce garbage and win an instant million isn't going to cut it any longer.
A band can sell 1/100th of what a label sells and keep 90% of the profit – making more money plus keeping all rights to their music. It's concerts and commercial work that pays off, not CD sales. Madonna (and others) weren't foolish for dumping their labels.
The band not knowing isn't an excuse because the publicity does hurt them. How else do people learn about new music? The radio's been dead for generations. There's more competition now. Kids have no concept of the radio as a source of music and they are happy playing games or watching movies. They don't "miss it". They don't "miss" CD's either.
Kids have the entire library of human sound available at their fingertips and are very good at screening out what they don't want to hear, 24/7. That's progress.
"I seriously doubt any of the band had any idea at all that their record company were hiring this web-moron. "
If the record company are making decisions without consulting FF, then they deserve everything they get (you'd think 'artists' would now have cl00 regarding manipulation by A&R men, etc.)
Either they _did_ know and are wankers or they _didn't_ know and are clueless 'art-punk' pseuds. In both instances they are "Teh Fail". =]
Ahem – look, I have to profess to being an avowed atheist but I'm interested: can you show any sources/arguments for/scripture that actually says it's a sin. That is if you're saying this in seriousness.
Taking it way too far IMO:
Or they _did_ know but there's fuck all they can do about it contractually, or they _didnt_ know but seeing as they are probably doing 26 interviews a day and rushing around the country it's no surprise.
Our site was one of the first to hold the leak, and almost immedietly Web Sheriff was there demanding we take down the links. It is quite amusing to have a conversation with. I had it posted on my blog twice, next to each other, yet he only seemed to notice once. Does this guy ever do anything of use? He asks admins to take links down, onoes i'm like soooo scared. The dude needs to get some real powers. Such a faggot.
That's maling a few assumptions though. They may not know about it, they may be contractually unable to stop it but disagree with it, they may not contractually be allowed to comment..
Not saying that's actually the case but who knows?
You must be so proud :D
actually no, i am not, i feel sad
I agree: I think it's an assumption that no ones knows the validity of ATM.
"anti-piracy laws on paper may seem pretty bad, but there is a major difference between here and the US, our country doesn't enforce them."
Diito for Australia: our Federal police have stated on public record that they will never investigate or prosecute filesharers who are non-commercial in nature.
I wonder if it's a coincidence that the British Police have a reputation as being the world's best in terms of practises and teh Australian Police aren't far behind them :)
Hey, at least he's polite though huh :P
Well, the first time anyhow.
they are there own masters, in which we blame.
If they allow it, or dont speak against it, they are for it. They are the enemy, and will be deciminated on the networks like the rest of them.
why do you support shit bands like fuckcherry.. get some taste..
it doesnt matter, FF IS the company they sign with, if they were against it they would leave.. ohh but that would mean no more good life.. dont care.
if they cared they would join the movement like many other artists.. obviously they dont, not even an email, so fuck em. Sellouts.
Yes. Less than two weeks before their record is due out, they're going to go: "Screw you record label. Screw you and screw this album that's taken us four years to release."
I can see it happening now.
Wow, looks like the sheriff might have had rlslog shut down! They're off the air, both web and forum, one day after the takedown request!
"They may not know about it…"
That is no excuse… Ignorance is not bliss when you are a media figure.
"…may be contractually unable to stop it but disagree with it, they may not contractually be allowed to comment."
Whether the case or not, those around here don't support artists who are under such contracts or can't speak their artistic mind about what is going on in the world of their band.
cuz u hate them?
I wonder if the "web sheriff" wrote to the pirate bay for a takedown after last time the slagging he got lol Check it out in the legal threats of the pirate bay !
This isn't actually anything to do with Franz Ferdinad, its all down to their label Donimo. Our site has had multiple takedown requests from Web Sheriff, and they're all for things on the Domino label. Franz Ferdinand havn't hired Web Sheriff to this this bollocks, heck, they've even recently encouraged downloading of the leak. Its just Domino that use Web Sheriff, because they can't be arsed watermarking their promos they send out. Nothing to do with the bands.
Ever wonder if these artists are employing anti-piracy companies for the popularity?
I suddenly want to download the new album after reading this…
I beg to disagree …
Bummer, I liked them a lot.
DOS ATTACKS SHERIFF, BAND + LABEL WEBSITES PLZ
Yeah, thats what I've been thinking about recently too.
Its another "sextape" kind of thing, where people deliberatly leak and then try to sue over the leaks just to get into the media.
In the case of sextapes not giving a damn about their goods being displayed all over the web, as long as it brings them a career.
Ok wont download their new song…nor will i buy it…thats one sale down for them!
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