GoldieBlox, Fair Use, and the Cult of Disruption ⇥ blogs.reuters.com

Felix Salmon, Reuters:

Given the speed with which the GoldieBlox complaint appeared, indeed, it’s reasonable to assume that they had it in their back pocket all along, ready to whip out the minute anybody from the Beastie Boys, or their record label, so much as inquired about what was going on. The strategy here is to maximize ill-will: don’t ask permission, make no attempt to negotiate in good faith, antagonize the other party as much as possible.

Quoting from the Beastie Boys’ letter:

We strongly support empowering young girls, breaking down gender stereotypes and igniting a passion for technology and engineering. […]

When we tried to simply ask how and why our song “Girls” had been used in your ad without our permission, YOU sued US.

GoldieBlox doesn’t look so good here, despite their positive and encouraging message.