[sub]Yes, this is a General Question, not random musings about entertainment.[/sub]
OK, if you remember the Weird Al movie UHF (one of the great classics of our time, but I digress ), you may recall that one of the commercials that aired on Al’s station was for Spautla City (“We sell spatulas, and that’s all!”).
Now, from time to time Rush played the audio from that spoof on his show. I never once heard him mention Weird Al or UHF on a broadcast. Which raises the General Questions:
[ul]
[li]Did Rush ever publicly acknowledge Weird Al for this?[/li][li]Would the law, or professional ethics, have required him to do so (I assume that Rush cut Weird Al a check)?[/li][li]Did Weird Al give Rush permission to do this?[/li][li]Has Weird Al ever mentioned his thoughts on Rush’s usage of his Spatula City spoof?[/li][/ul]
the spatula city spoof along with others such as the 60 second sale spoof is what rush uses during his EIB broadcast. The local station afiliates usually add their own commercials during this time so most don’t here it. YOu can always here it on the internet broadcast directly from the rush web site.
As for royality/credit situation (as I understand it) Rush does not have to give credit but has to pay royalties. this issue came up as the band who produced the opening theme song didn’t want Rush to use it they sued and lost because Rush always paid the royalties. I would assume something simular for this.
In the early days of Weird Al’s recent “Running With Scissors” Tour, he played clips from the movie UHF; the “drink from the fire hose” scene, IIRC.
However, he soon received a “cease and desist” notice from the company that owns the movie.
Evidently, Al was an artistic force of the movie and acts as the main character, but has no rights to determine who uses sound clips or footage of the flick.
I used to “run the board” at a local station that ran Rush.
There are several local commercial breaks an hour. If stations don’t have local commercials booked, they can simply stay with network and continue the audio feed. This is standard operating procedure for all network radio talk shows.
Most shows fill this time with typical Ad Council PSAs (McGruff the Crime Dog, Smokey Bear etc.) - I guess Rush likes to use other stuff as well.
Phouchg
Lovable Rogue
), you may recall that one of the commercials that aired on Al’s station was for Spautla City (“We sell spatulas, and that’s all!”).