METALLICA: Corporate Rock Egos Gone Completely Fucking Mad?

May 6, 2003

The following article was originally published in the April 30 edition of the San Francisco Bay Guardian:

"We all know METALLICA take copyright violations as seriously as they do their love of Raider Nation, but Napster's archenemies are going to have to start picking and choosing their court battles more carefully or risk turning everyone against them. METALLICA's latest brush with the world of cease and desist is actually pretty hair-brained. It seems June 10 is the launch date for their longtime-coming eighth studio album, 'St. Anger' (Elektra). So the boys, allegedly, thought a fine way to hype the disc and generate free radio publicity in the weeks leading to the hallowed day would be for rock stations to decree the month of May 'Maytallica.'

"But having the privilege to use such a high-larious audience grabber doesn't come without its restrictions. The San Leandro boys don't want their brilliant idea abused. And who can blame them, as Rocktober turns into AC/December and VAN HALEN Three-peats morphs into, um, VAN HALEN Four-peats.

"So being the savvy music-biz guys they are, the metal men have been busily sending radio programming directors trademark license agreements signed by 'General Partner' Lars Ulrich, a.k.a. the drummer, a.k.a. Master of the Puppets. The finely detailed contracts define radio stations' 'right' to use the band's name and the trademarked promo phrase 'Maytallica' on the airwaves: '(Insert name here) shall not use Maytallica for any purposes other than for radio programming services relating to METALLICA and to promote such services and agrees not to seek registration of Maytallica....'

"Hokay, so the question is who's going to profit from swiping the name 'Maytallica'? And wouldn't it be in the band's best interest for 'Maytallica' to be on everyone's lips? Some metal maniacs are apparently off-the-hook control freaks, prompting one program director who signed up for the promotion to whip up his own irate version of the contract titled 'Guarantee of not sucking ass' addressed to 'Corporate Rock Egos Gone Completely Fucking Mad (herein known as 'METALLICA').' "

(Thanks: Inter Sandman)

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).