What Really IS Originality?

[Paul Tao]

Apple rips off The Postal Service? (http://www.eliteproductionswi.com/apple-ps.htm)

Here is Ben's response:
It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers' new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for 'Such Great Heights' made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original. We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent. -Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service

Submitted by VinnyVegas

[RockVocalPower]

More than likely the director's fault for using the same idea for the Apple commercial since he directed both.

[i bet i bet]

wow, ive only seen the commercial once, but i didnt catch that. hmm...

[Ruggiero2oo8]

i noticed that the other day when the commercial was on tv.

[tommyhaych]

damn.

[Paul Tao]

The best part is the comments on digg.com about this:

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Postal_Service_dissappointed_wi th_Apple_s_Intel_Ad


"The Postal Service is a great band one of my top 3 favorites. (all "legally" downloaded btw)

- They are not emo.... Emo stands for emotional... which still doesnt make any sense. Emo would be Fall out Boy and Panic! at the disco (which I dislike) It is kind of a spin off of pop rock.

- They shouldn't bitch about this either though. I mean who cares. They HAVE sold out to comercials already ex. Honda. Let Apple have its way at least it promotes you a bit"


"The Postal Service are SELLOUTS!

M&M ads WTF, now Apple spoofs? PLEASE, sit the fuck down Postal Service you are not fooling anyone with your screamo-emo cheese music.."


"I call BULLSHIT on this. Pure BULLSHIT. Intel has been using bunny-suit, laboratory ads way before the existance of that music video, and Chris Cunningham created a Bjork video that had a similar theme before them as well.

Postal Service is just being fucking emo-babies."



"This is hilarious.
A joke of an emo band has it's retardedly derivitive 'video' (BY THE WAY - ALL MUSIC VIDEOS ARE JUST COMMERCIALS) double-sold by its director.

YOU ARE ALL SO PATHETIC. DROWN IN YOUR POOL OF EMO CRAP."

[Jason Tate]

They are in Intel bunny suits, which are pretty much associated with Intel now .. yah?

[whitetiehanging]

this is ridiculous, on everyones part (including PS)

[The Revisionist]

Wouldn't the director own (if there is really anything to own here) the right to do that anyway? I mean, yeah I guess it sucks, but there's not really anything the Postal Service can do.

[a hybrid]

so in essence the director who directed and in most cases comes up with the treatment for the video copied himself...

so then who cares.

[[Brendan]]

The best part is the comments on digg.com about this:

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Postal_Service_dissappointed_wi th_Apple_s_Intel_Ad


"The Postal Service is a great band one of my top 3 favorites. (all "legally" downloaded btw)

- They are not emo.... Emo stands for emotional... which still doesnt make any sense. Emo would be Fall out Boy and Panic! at the disco (which I dislike) It is kind of a spin off of pop rock.

- They shouldn't bitch about this either though. I mean who cares. They HAVE sold out to comercials already ex. Honda. Let Apple have its way at least it promotes you a bit"


"The Postal Service are SELLOUTS!

M&M ads WTF, now Apple spoofs? PLEASE, sit the fuck down Postal Service you are not fooling anyone with your screamo-emo cheese music.."


"I call BULLSHIT on this. Pure BULLSHIT. Intel has been using bunny-suit, laboratory ads way before the existance of that music video, and Chris Cunningham created a Bjork video that had a similar theme before them as well.

Postal Service is just being fucking emo-babies."



"This is hilarious.
A joke of an emo band has it's retardedly derivitive 'video' (BY THE WAY - ALL MUSIC VIDEOS ARE JUST COMMERCIALS) double-sold by its director.

YOU ARE ALL SO PATHETIC. DROWN IN YOUR POOL OF EMO CRAP."
I'm speechless after reading that Paul.

[tom_wim]

surely all it shows is the director can't think of any new ideas.

[Paul Tao]

']I'm speechless after reading that Paul.
dude, didn't you know that Postal Service is screamo now? I heard Ben has been taking screaming lessons.

[actionandaction]

The best part is the comments on digg.com about this:

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Postal_Service_dissappointed_wi th_Apple_s_Intel_Ad


"The Postal Service is a great band one of my top 3 favorites. (all "legally" downloaded btw)

- They are not emo.... Emo stands for emotional... which still doesnt make any sense. Emo would be Fall out Boy and Panic! at the disco (which I dislike) It is kind of a spin off of pop rock.

- They shouldn't bitch about this either though. I mean who cares. They HAVE sold out to comercials already ex. Honda. Let Apple have its way at least it promotes you a bit"


"The Postal Service are SELLOUTS!

M&M ads WTF, now Apple spoofs? PLEASE, sit the fuck down Postal Service you are not fooling anyone with your screamo-emo cheese music.."


"I call BULLSHIT on this. Pure BULLSHIT. Intel has been using bunny-suit, laboratory ads way before the existance of that music video, and Chris Cunningham created a Bjork video that had a similar theme before them as well.

Postal Service is just being fucking emo-babies."



"This is hilarious.
A joke of an emo band has it's retardedly derivitive 'video' (BY THE WAY - ALL MUSIC VIDEOS ARE JUST COMMERCIALS) double-sold by its director.

YOU ARE ALL SO PATHETIC. DROWN IN YOUR POOL OF EMO CRAP."

ha, wow.

[whitetiehanging]

last night on the iTunes Music Store i saw a big advertisement for PS' video (the one in question) too.

[YearsGoneBy]

The best part is the comments on digg.com about this:

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Postal_Service_dissappointed_wi th_Apple_s_Intel_Ad


"The Postal Service is a great band one of my top 3 favorites. (all "legally" downloaded btw)

- They are not emo.... Emo stands for emotional... which still doesnt make any sense. Emo would be Fall out Boy and Panic! at the disco (which I dislike) It is kind of a spin off of pop rock.

- They shouldn't bitch about this either though. I mean who cares. They HAVE sold out to comercials already ex. Honda. Let Apple have its way at least it promotes you a bit"


"The Postal Service are SELLOUTS!

M&M ads WTF, now Apple spoofs? PLEASE, sit the fuck down Postal Service you are not fooling anyone with your screamo-emo cheese music.."


"I call BULLSHIT on this. Pure BULLSHIT. Intel has been using bunny-suit, laboratory ads way before the existance of that music video, and Chris Cunningham created a Bjork video that had a similar theme before them as well.

Postal Service is just being fucking emo-babies."



"This is hilarious.
A joke of an emo band has it's retardedly derivitive 'video' (BY THE WAY - ALL MUSIC VIDEOS ARE JUST COMMERCIALS) double-sold by its director.

YOU ARE ALL SO PATHETIC. DROWN IN YOUR POOL OF EMO CRAP." hehehe

[Kelley Nicole]

i knew that was a postal service video! i was too lazy to check, but every time i saw it it bugged me.


ahhhhh ungomfdj i wish the terms emo and indie would just die. i know indie at least makes some sense but i still hate it. anyway, those comments were great, haha. (edit: i'm aware i've used the terms before - so i might seem hypocritical - but it doesn't make me hate them any less)

[Ryan Imhof]

not apple's fault

[Sureshot182]

DNTEL > INTEL
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/luckiestreet123/roflcopter.gif

[Low Level Owl]

i knew that was a postal service video! i was too lazy to check, but every time i saw it it bugged me.


ahhhhh ungomfdj i wish the terms emo and indie would just die. i know indie at least makes some sense but i still hate it. anyway, those comments were great, haha. (edit: i'm aware i've used the terms before - so i might seem hypocritical - but it doesn't make me hate them any less)
I'm going to have to agree with you on this one. those are probably the most annoying words used to describe certain kinds of music.
plus, making fun of "emo" is probably one of the lamest things ever. the jokes are no longer funny. you'd think people could at least be a little more creative rather than saying stuff like "they should be happy, now they have more material to cry about."
It's also kind of lame that the director had to copy his own idea. Not a very smart move on his part. I wouldn't hire a director who couldn't think of more than one concept for a commercial or video.

[The Fix]

go get em, ben!

you know what you should do to get even? make another postal service record...

[IAPAI]

Please... It was a much bigger deal when Apple ripped off Lugz. This one wasn't even their fault.

[JamesWard]

All of you can suck it. They BOTH ripped off the ideas and scenes from the SkyNET lab in Terminator 2.

Peace.

[MrBaileySays]

Everyone!! band together!! lets shit on apple computers in stores

...literally

[unwritten]

screamo-emo cheese music? lol wtf

[patpratt]

this is ridiculous, on everyones part (including PS)

why is it rediculous of postal service?

[Manbotisdead]

dude, didn't you know that Postal Service is screamo now? I heard Ben has been taking screaming lessons.

HAHA
don't you wish people would learn to be intelligent?

[dan.is.empire]

i saw that commercial and i thought it WAS the video until it said "Intel". that sucks.

[eldude9482]

WAH. Get over it.

[avitabully]

its weird how the postal service has become like the mantra makers of an entire generation of tech-savvy 20-somethings. or at least that's what madison avenue is trying to tell me. i still like the album

[lassise]

hahahahahaaha ...and in other news, the USPS expressed its disappointment with Ben Gibbard's band...

[Sam Kaufman]

what do you expect
they stole their first GUI from Xerox

[xvalorous]

yeah i definitly noticed this when i first saw it, thinking they were using the video for the commericial.
that makes a lot of sense now that this has been said.

[ArmaniMassacre]

hahahahahaaha ...and in other news, the USPS expressed its disappointment with Ben Gibbard's band...

the bad thing is on the outside packaging for Give Up, it says that their name was acquired with permission from the USPS...honestly though....besides Fall Out Boy, Ben Gibbard is in two bands that are on top of the world....his ranting and complaining is about as big of bullshit as Lars Ulrich from Metallica complaining about fuckin' Napster....I'm in a band and I tell you what...if someone hears my music, I don't fuckin' care how...it's the fact that they heard it....get over your pompous selves...go look at the videos for a number of bands that have people in big retarded animal costumes....Refused, The Flaming Lips, Bloodhound Gang (for lack of a better reference)....this shit is ridiculous....

[Kelley Nicole]

hahahahahaaha ...and in other news, the USPS expressed its disappointment with Ben Gibbard's band...
wait, i can't tell because it's online, but, you do know that that DID happen, right?

[tragedyl0ve]

i noticed this and i was pissed off, cause i knew it was a rip off

[The Fix]

How the fuck is this getting turned back around on Ben Gibbard? He was just disappointed they ripped off their video...goddamn, you'd think he completely freaked out about it by the way alot of you are reacting

[nerogtr]

i dont think its a huge deal. at all...

[Low Level Owl]

the bad thing is on the outside packaging for Give Up, it says that their name was acquired with permission from the USPS...honestly though....besides Fall Out Boy, Ben Gibbard is in two bands that are on top of the world....his ranting and complaining is about as big of bullshit as Lars Ulrich from Metallica complaining about fuckin' Napster....I'm in a band and I tell you what...if someone hears my music, I don't fuckin' care how...it's the fact that they heard it....get over your pompous selves...go look at the videos for a number of bands that have people in big retarded animal costumes....Refused, The Flaming Lips, Bloodhound Gang (for lack of a better reference)....this shit is ridiculous....
i hope you know that the postal services music is not in the commercial. there for no one is hearing their songs when they see the commercial and most people will not know that the idea was a postal service video first. This in no way promoted the band at first, but I guess now it will after all the contreversy.

By the way, he isn't whining about it. he's expressing disapointment that they stole their video. Even if it was the director's idea, it was still a video for the band. I think Ben Gibbard has every right to express his disapointment with the situation. I think he said what he needed to in a very respectable way. I guess I don't understand why everyone is getting on his ass about it.

[Vic7im of Life]

Ben's deep growls are amazing.

[TylerDurden911]

go get em, ben!

you know what you should do to get even? make another postal service record...

Why didn't I think of that ?!? That's the best answer ever!

[Adeniz19]

shitty "band"ya, the erection kids are so much better

[ForeverInADay]

why is it rediculous of postal service?
FUCK YOU!! LEARN TO SPELL!! FUCKING DAMNIT!

That bothers me so much, if you cannot spell ridiculous, DON'T USE THE WORD WHEN YOU'RE TYPING.

[ForeverInADay]

Ben's deep growls are amazing.
hahahahahaha

It reminds me of Job For A Cowboy or BTBAM

[Absolute Mest]

one day everyone, emo will mean emotional hardcore again and then people can stop using it. but yeah, the postal service is progressional post-post-indie vibrational rock. duh.

[Gabe Gross]

i can't believe this is being made into a big deal...its not like the postal service owns the "original" footage of chip makers running through the processes of making a microchip.

Thats like me complaining to the Smashing Pmpkins for making a shitload of people run through a mudhole when my parents obviously took that same footage when i was a child with all my cousins.

So I guess Apple and The Smashing Pumpkins are assholes. People are lame.

[pdlawry]

fuck emo and all its stupid terms. To the assholes who always reply with "That's not emo, emo is emotianal hardcore!!" you're just as fucking bad.
All music is emotional hardcore or not, and that label just makes the idiots who use it look even dumber.

[xTJx]

I honestly can't say I'm surprised...big companies like this tend to roll over every single person that approaches them with an idea.

[yutsmcgee]

It's the directors creation, not Ben fucking Gibbard's. He has no control over it.

[TheNumberOneFan]

i can't believe this is being made into a big deal...its not like the postal service owns the "original" footage of chip makers running through the processes of making a microchip.

Thats like me complaining to the Smashing Pmpkins for making a shitload of people run through a mudhole when my parents obviously took that same footage when i was a child with all my cousins.

So I guess Apple and The Smashing Pumpkins are assholes. People are lame.

mmm.. good point

[lassise]

so basically hp did a cover of postal services video and put their spin on it. without written consent OH EM GEE

[patpratt]

FUCK YOU!! LEARN TO SPELL!! FUCKING DAMNIT!

That bothers me so much, if you cannot spell ridiculous, DON'T USE THE WORD WHEN YOU'RE TYPING.

ah damn, he decides to snap on me.

[patpratt]

FUCK YOU!! LEARN TO SPELL!! FUCKING DAMNIT!

That bothers me so much, if you cannot spell ridiculous, DON'T USE THE WORD WHEN YOU'RE TYPING.

and you spelled dammit wrong. I believe.

[Ailite]

I think PS is right to do something, I noticed the other night.

[PunkRocks]

and you spelled dammit wrong. I believe.

No, he spelled it right. Damnit = damn it... which is the point he was trying to make. Dammit = Damm(??not a word??) it... so I dunno what that means.

[PunkRocks]

As far as the rest of this goes, I think everyone should calm down about bashing TPS over this. They didn't come out saying they were sued, they didn't come out saying they were pissed off and trying to start a boycot of apple. They simply said they were disappointed that "shot-for-shot" scenes from there music video were copied into an Apple commercial. Hell, I'd be disappointed too if that happened to me. But they handled it well.

So guys, TPS was pretty damn mature about it.. how about the rest of you act that way?

[bbelair]

No, he spelled it right. Damnit = damn it... which is the point he was trying to make. Dammit = Damm(??not a word??) it... so I dunno what that means.

yeah ive always wondered why blink spelled it dammit, and then it got me all confused on how you spell the word

[mediocrgreenday]

yeah dont care

but speaking of the postal service... is a new cd being planned?? any word?

[SuNDaYSTaR]

DNTEL > INTEL
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/luckiestreet123/roflcopter.gif
You just made my whole week.

[Robb]

You just made my whole week.

Well then, you're going to really enjoy 2006.

http://www.rofl.name/asciiart/

[mogwaifearsatan]

This is ridiculous. That message from Ben should say "I'm getting married to Brian" (me)

[DeathCabForCoon]

The best part is the comments on digg.com about this:

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Postal_Service_dissappointed_wi th_Apple_s_Intel_Ad


"The Postal Service is a great band one of my top 3 favorites. (all "legally" downloaded btw)

- They are not emo.... Emo stands for emotional... which still doesnt make any sense. Emo would be Fall out Boy and Panic! at the disco (which I dislike) It is kind of a spin off of pop rock.

- They shouldn't bitch about this either though. I mean who cares. They HAVE sold out to comercials already ex. Honda. Let Apple have its way at least it promotes you a bit"


"The Postal Service are SELLOUTS!

M&M ads WTF, now Apple spoofs? PLEASE, sit the fuck down Postal Service you are not fooling anyone with your screamo-emo cheese music.."


"I call BULLSHIT on this. Pure BULLSHIT. Intel has been using bunny-suit, laboratory ads way before the existance of that music video, and Chris Cunningham created a Bjork video that had a similar theme before them as well.

Postal Service is just being fucking emo-babies."



"This is hilarious.
A joke of an emo band has it's retardedly derivitive 'video' (BY THE WAY - ALL MUSIC VIDEOS ARE JUST COMMERCIALS) double-sold by its director.

YOU ARE ALL SO PATHETIC. DROWN IN YOUR POOL OF EMO CRAP."

Oh that makes me so angry! Its not even them in the M&M ad. Fucking retards

[lackofcolour 13]

ive never seen the video, so Im going to watch it right now.

[lackofcolour 13]

Oh that makes me so angry! Its not even them in the M&M ad. Fucking retards

can all the douchebags of the world have a meeting, and pass a resolution that none of them know what "emo" actually means in relevance to a music genre, and therefore placing a ceasefire of sorts on their usage of the term?

Seriously, there is nothing sadder than someone who thinks they know what they are talking about, when they are just digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

I watched the video too, and yeah, its a pretty decent rip off of sorts. I would be mad if I was Ben too.

[TheSceneStealer]

Guys just to make some things clear.

its actually an Intel bought and produced Ad in conjunction with Apple
So really Intel could be the one with a lawsuit on their hands

[fullerm]

DNTEL > INTEL
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/luckiestreet123/roflcopter.gif

i dont know why, but i seriously think this is the funniest thing i have ever seen or read on this site. i seriously laughed out loud a little bit.

[Bikeage]

i can't believe this is being made into a big deal...its not like the postal service owns the "original" footage of chip makers running through the processes of making a microchip.

Thats like me complaining to the Smashing Pmpkins for making a shitload of people run through a mudhole when my parents obviously took that same footage when i was a child with all my cousins.

So I guess Apple and The Smashing Pumpkins are assholes. People are lame.

actually, it's completely different but nice try

[Rest_Easy]

it is not neccesarily the director who thought the idea. The director just brings an idea into visual and audio coherency. Their could have been an outside source, a writer perhaps even working with the director if by a group or agency, that came up with the idea in which case it would be that person were the idea originated from that needs to give an OK IF said 'idea' is actually in breach. So during filming and creation the 'rights' of the video should have been clear as for who owns the idea and obvious who owns the song (seperate from the video).