Suck It EMI

Nothing says stickin it to the man like this article & I love it:

Frustrated With EMI, Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Release A Blank CD-R
Dark Night Of The Soul with Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse & David Lynch

(Updated) Upset by a lack of support from label EMI for his new "Dark Side Of The Soul" project, Danger Mouse is self-releasing a 100 page booklet of photographs along with a blank CD-R and asking his fans to do the rest. The artist sent this message:

Danger Mouse lynch "Danger Mouse's new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.

The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: "For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.

Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music without fear of being sued by EMI. "

Danger Mouse remains very proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes and that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is."

NPR, STARS & COPYRIGHT LAWS
The album began showing up on file sharing networks several days ago and a copy was sent to NPR which is now streaming the album in full on its web site. A plethora of artists signed to other labels also appear on the project including:
James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

Is Danger Mouse encouraging fans to break the law by downloading copyright restricted material? The Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed to an interesting copyright law wrinkle:

If the blank CD-R is a royalty-paid "music CD-R," then the copies made by fans (whether made from NPR or P2P) would be legal under 17 U.S.C. 1008, which provides that no infringement lawsuit may be "based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of [a digital audio recording] medium for making digital musical recordings." Digital audio recording medium (DARM) is defined to include "music CD-Rs" on which a royalty is paid to copyright owners.

article via hypebot:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/05/danger-mouse-releases-a-blank-cd-r.html