Komm, Susser Tod - Who is Arianne?

[Ornette]

I don't know about that. The arrangement is clearly based on the original, even the instrumentation towards the end mimics it note-for-note.

Did you listen to them side by side? The piano part isn't even remotely the same, not the same notes, not the same chords. The vocal melody changed in a few places. The EoE version goes through at least 2 more choruses before the singing starts, there's an added organ part that is missing from the new version. I'm trying to find where at the end it's note-for-note the same with the original and I'm not able to find it, the organ parts are completely different, new version missing the strings. The arrangement sounds similar, the 2 songs sound similar, but that's not enough to make a copyright claim on an arrangement. When someone plays and records Duke Ellington's arrangement of the Nutcracker suite, unless it's exactly the same thing, he doesn't have a claim. And that's because Nutcracker is public domain, if it was an arrangement of an already copyrighted work, Duke wouldn't even have that claim.

What claim does exist, however, is the original songwriter. Any new arrangement can't be sold without a Mechanical License. I don't know who owns these rights.

[Warren Peace]

That song is in the public domain, so Ellington's SOL in any event. George Harrison's ghost will be thrilled to learn that cutting choruses and adding minor instrumentation means you can tell the copyright holder to eff off. Anyway, it's something of a moot point, since a new arrangement would not absolve Arianne of responsibility:

May I make a new arrangement of copyrighted musical work without violating the copyright?
No. Under U.S. Copyright Law, the making of a new arrangement of a copyrighted musical composition would be considered a “derivative work.” A derivative work is work based on or derived from another copyrighted work. As such, the right to make a derivative work is exclusively held by the copyright owner. Therefore, you could only make a new arrangement of a copyrighted work with the permission of the original copyright holder.

If I make a new arrangement of a copyrighted song with the permission of the composer, may I claim a copyright on the new arrangement?
If you have been given the permission by the copyright owner of a musical work to make a new arrangement, that new arrangement will receive copyright protection. Again, however, copyright protection would not be extended to the new arrangement unless the permission of the original copyright holder was provided. If requesting permission from the original copyright holder, it is critical to obtain that permission in writing so it can later be documented.


http://mtna.net/Resources/CopyrightInformation/CopyrightFAQs/tabid/316/Default.aspx

There are a lot of unknown factors here (KST's music publisher may not have anything to do with Anno/Sagisu/Gainax, for one thing) but it's undoubtedly more complex than you let on. Arianne merely performed on the original recording -- that doesn't entitle her to any particular rights. There's gotta be multiple royalties involved here. But in the end I don't care THAT much so I'll leave it there.

EDIT: looks like you've been Googling some of the same things I have since you added those last four sentences after I started typing this.

[Bagheera]

She's selling the song isn't she...?
Someone taking a steak out of the cash cow without their knowing or consent...

That's your assumption, bud. Most of us are satisfied it's her and smart enough to know we're not privy to what's going on behind the scenes. If you want to tilt at windmills, you go right ahead. Just don't expect anyone else to follow your lead.

@Warren: You might want to note you're quoting U.S. copyright law there. Since we're talking about a Japanese property and a work by a British singer, well . . .

[svenge]

@Warren: You might want to note you're quoting U.S. copyright law there. Since we're talking about a Japanese property and a work by a British singer, well . . .

I'm sure the Berne Convention has similar language.

[Bagheera]

I'm sure the Berne Convention has similar language.

Note the U.S. wasn't a party to that convention for over a century, and while we did eventually ratify it we also took a minimalist approach to compliance.

Our approach to legal matters is very much not in lockstep with the rest of the world. Sometimes there are good reasons for that, sometimes it's just plain fucked up, but either way it means using U.S. law as a reference for an international matter is a bad idea.

[svenge]

This is exactly why I decided against getting my GED in Law, too much work.

[Ardorius]

Ugh... just... I oh wait, that's not so ba... ew. OMG gross. Shut it off, shut it off!

The vocals are decent, but the dubstep - yeck.

I guess I just like the EoE version better. The new flute makes it seem too much like a doctor's waiting room remix. I can't really see this having the same dichotomy as the original.

[chaosakita]

Eh the new versions are alright, but since I got my hopes up, they're really a letdown.

[BornIn1142]

Is it me or does the remake version of the song go "feel the best thing I could do is end it all and live forever?" I mean, it sounds somewhat ambiguous in the original version, but here, the word sound definitely like "live" to me.

I quite like the re-recording. I think the instrumentation is pretty interesting and gives nice alternative to the original, and Arianne's vocals are quite good. I like the easygoing mood of it, though I have this vague impression that the mood is... ignorant of the dark tone of the lyrics, as opposed to the original, which was intentionally made to clash. Also, the absence of a chorus is keenly felt.

[Sailor Star Dust]

According to her Facebook, April 7th is Arianne's Birthday!

[Tabby-chan]

According to her Facebook, April 7th is Arianne's Birthday!

...Good for you.

Okay, everyone, I know I'm not the most popular EGer around here, but really. I think we have officially analyzed the CRAP out of the legal issues surrounding this song.

I thought this topic was about the song, not its legal state.

[Sailor Star Dust]

...Good for you.

Er, good for me, what? I just thought people would be interested in Arianne's birthday or want to send her well-wishes if they like her enough.

[Ornette]

The site's been updated, has some videos now http://www.kommsussertod2012.com/

[Bagheera]

The site's been updated, has some videos now http://www.kommsussertod2012.com/

I don't mind the song, but I'm not wild about the video. It's hard to imagine "It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down" without watching the world turn to tang. A chick dancing in front of a screen with scenes from EoTV doesn't quite cut it.

[InstrumentalityOne]

Legality and real Ariannes aside, that music video was probably the most uninspired, unnatural and narcisstic shit I've seen in a while.
It's just Komm Susser Tod with a modern generic drum section, vocals that don't seem to be able to pull off what it's singer probably intended it to sound like.
She tried to be different to the original recording, but she didn't quite get there.
And the video is just her dancing before a projector with funky filter puke all over.
Her whole act just screamed "AM I SEXY/LADY GAGA YET" out loud and generally was just sad to watch.
And the scenes taken from NGE seemed random as fuck, too. (You can even see the pause thingy of the video player on the right top at some point in the video.

All in all, she had me hyped over some sort of self-glorifying video with no substance at all for nothing.

[Gendo'sPapa]

......

That was fucking embarrassing. So they just grabbed a couple Quicktime files of Eva, boosted the contrast to 100% & then had her dance in front of a white wall in a series of so-bad-they-aren't-even-hipster outfits?

This makes me respect Hideaki Anno all the more for writing such powerful lyrics & finding the right singer with the right vocals for EOE. And Arianne less so for being quite dreadful.

P.S. As a German speaker it's sad they misspell the title of the song in the video itself. It's TOD, one D, not TODD.

So basically the title of her song now translates to "Come Sweet Todd". Who the fuck is Todd?

[Fireball]

Quite shabby indeed

[Final Messenger]

Well that was terrible.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Huh.........

[Mt Olympus]

I think the youtube comments pretty much sum it up lol She is actually replying to some of them.