BIZARRE TRIBE: ACCESS DENIED
(AN OPEN LETTER RESPONSE TO SONY'S CEASE AND DESIST)
READ OUR OPEN LETTER TO SONY HERE :
Open letter to Sony
Dear Friends,
Last Friday, Sony Music sent Gummy Soul a cease and desist order for Amerigo Gazaway's "Bizarre Tribe: A Quest To The Pharcyde".
As owners of A Tribe Called Quest's catalog, Sony is claiming copyright infringement and has demanded that we take the album down immediately or face further litigation for damages.
While less than 3 minutes of the 55 minute Bizarre Tribe experience is Sony owned ATCQ material (you'll remember Amerigo flipped the original sourced records Tribe SAMPLED, as opposed to having sampled their music directly), Sony feels that our project is non-transformative, and is in direct competition with original A Tribe Called Quest material.
Though we are confident that our work falls under "fair use" as defined by the Copyright Act of 1976, (something we explain further in our open letter response , we cannot afford to take on a Goliath like Sony Music. Due to the sheer amount of samples required to create this project, it would be impossible for a label of our size to release Bizarre Tribe through traditional means. Although Bizarre Tribe has always been available for free, Sony is demanding our immediate compliance.
As of now, Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde is no longer available through Gummy Soul Records. If you would like to get involved, we have provided a few easy ways for you to help.
1. Read and share our open letter response to Sony:
Open letter to Sony
2. Visit BizarreTribe.com to find out more on how you can help.
As always, we thank you for your continued support and look forward to bringing you more music in the future. In the meantime, stay tuned and KEEP BOUNCING.
- Gummy Soul
www.gummysoul.com
bizarretribe.com