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14 Apr 11 - 02:35 AM (#3134847) Subject: The Diggers Album - Aust Army refuses From: The Fooles Troupe Army urged to rethink Diggers album ban By Cassie White The Army has been urged to reconsider its 11th hour scrapping of a tribute album recorded by three serving soldiers after a row with record company Warner Music over the use of the term 'diggers'. Warner had planned to release the album in time for Anzac Day next week, but instead the Army apparently pulled the pin because it did not like the term 'The Diggers' for its title. The company wanted to trademark 'The Diggers' as part of the recording agreement to stop other artists cashing in on the name, but in a statement the Army said it had objected to the move. "Army regards the term 'digger' as commonly associated with the spirit and ethos of past and present serving members of the Australian Army, as well as a common use phrase or term," it said. "Any action which restricts the use of the term 'digger' by any other persons or organisations is of concern." Gordon Maddock, vice-president of commercial marketing at Warner Music, says he is extremely disappointed by the decision and puts it down to a lack of understanding and interest on the Army's behalf. "We're not trying to trademark 'The Diggers' so anyone who wants to use it can't. It's purely around the album in this space," he said. "Ultimately it just comes down to the Army not understanding anything to do with the project and just not really willing to listen." Mr Maddock says his company approached the Army "in the right spirit" but that during the whole process Defence has been nothing but "obstructionist", treating Warner and the soldiers involved "like dirt". "I would have thought that if someone had approached Defence with a project like this, with everything else they've going on at the moment, they would have looked at this is and thought 'this is a really good news story'," he said. "Instead we're just getting this deafening silence; they're not even talking to us. "I think the whole project was just a victim of bureaucracy. We speak to certain people who say 'yes everything's fine you can proceed' ... then a week later there's an email saying they (the soldiers) can't proceed and they want to change the contracts, even though the Army isn't a contracting party at all. "I don't want to say it's not going ahead, I want to say it's been postponed because I'm still hopeful that the Army's going to reconsider." Although he declined to give an exact amount, Mr Maddock says "many, many, many thousands" of dollars have been lost because someone in Army HQ had an issue with the name. "Someone from the Army actually had the gall to say 'We don't want a boy band calling themselves The Diggers," he said. "This is not a boy band, these are actual serving soldiers and as an ex-soldier myself I find it insulting that they would think that. "These guys are diggers, I don't understand why the Army would say we're not allowed to call them that, it's ridiculous and it's an insult to them. "We checked with the RSL who we thought would have more concern with this name than anyone else and they have absolutely no objection to this." The album was based on the successful UK version called 'The Soldiers', which Mr Maddock believes has so far raised about 1 million pounds for military charities. Proceeds from The Diggers were to go to Legacy but instead, Mr Maddock says, the charity has been left in the cold and out of pocket. The Army would not disclose details of its discussions with Legacy about the project, but says it has been in contact with the organisation throughout. "Army maintains a strong relationship with Legacy and other welfare organisations. We are disappointed by the outcome for this initiative, however we are confident our longstanding and shared history will continue," the statement said. Mr Maddock says Warner had been approached by the AFL and NRL about the project, but that now Legacy will miss out on a potentially huge amount of revenue generated by their promotion of the album. "The AFL reached out to us and said they wanted to have these guys (the soldiers) perform at the Anzac Day game at the MCG in front of 100,000 people with 1.8 million watching on TV," he said. "They were going to interview them in the box, talk about the project, about how important Legacy is. "We were going to try and raise money for Legacy on the day, but now that can't happen. But it's still 11 days away so we're hoping we'll get some sort of notification or response from the Army saying they've reconsidered their position." Army says it had engaged in "productive discussions" with Warner Music but decided not to allow the album's release after the recording company was "not able to accept Army's proposed amendments". ~~~~ What a bunfight! |
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14 Apr 11 - 02:48 AM (#3134849) Subject: RE: The Diggers Album - Aust Army refuses From: Spleen Cringe Beats me why either the Australian Army or Warners are interested in a bunch of 17th century English radicals... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594JpY2ahFg |
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14 Apr 11 - 04:40 AM (#3134897) Subject: RE: The Diggers Album - Aust Army refuses From: Richard Bridge I don't immediately see how the Army can prevent the release of the album, with or more obviously without "Diggers" as the album title. Presumably the songs are all covers and recording permission can be obtained through the usual collecting societies. It sounds to me as if Warners are being dogs in the manger, refusing to release the album unless they are enabled to obtain some exclusivity in the use of that title (in which vein there are lots of exciting trade mark law issues presumably in Australia as here, and likely in the USA too). I would be very wary if I were the Australian army of offering Warner any sort of exclusivity in relation to a term used to describe Australian soldiers (and indeed Australians generally) for I imagine about a century. |
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14 Apr 11 - 07:51 AM (#3134984) Subject: RE: The Diggers Album - Aust Army refuses From: Charley Noble Someone had to go and raise the legal issues, and once you raise 'em they may well bite the hand that's fed 'em. You may quote me without attribution. Charley Noble |