A friend of mine is a professional musician. He had a job recording on an album. Unfortunately he was being evicted and he received a notice that he had a court date on the day of the session. So he called to cancel. He left a telephone message that said he was unable to attend the recording session because he was being evicted. He also gave an alternate contact number because his telephone was being disconnected.
Later he learned that his message was included at the beginning of the CD that was released. While he is not a local celebrity, his voice was recognized by critics who reviewed the album. Presumably others in the local music community also recognized his voice. He had not been told about this in advance. He did not consent to the use of his message. And he’s not been paid for the use of his message.
I am an attorney, and I know copyright and tort law.I am definitely not looking for legal advice. I am wondering what your gut tells you about this. Is this offensive? ethical?
As a “person off the street” my first impression is that it was done to humiliate him, and cause people to look down on him and point and laugh at him. I don’t think it was a prank, and if it was done in a similar vein to “reality TV” it was in poor taste, and should have had consent in the first place. (It MIGHT have been trying to add “street cred” to the album, since “reality” sells now.) I think it was done in a mean spirit, to cause harm to his reputation. Others may not see it that way though. I wish your friend luck.
Since the message was that he’d been evicted and his phone was being disconnected, I agree it’s reasonable for him to be embarrassed by this, especially since others recognized his voice. So, offensive? Yes. Unethical? Almost certainly.
I don’t think it’s something I’d get worked up about- after all, I did put that message out for the public to hear. In fact, if any of that was on any of my friend’s albums, I’d think it was pretty “hardcore” and cool of them. But then, I hang out with a bunch of no-accounts who take getting evicted/fired/etc. as a point of pride.
But then I can also see how it would bring up memories of a bad time in your life, and that sucks.
How did he leave it for the public to hear? He left a message on someone’s voicemail. I don’t consider voicemails that I leave to be intended for public consumption.
Hmmmmm… there is a musician from Bloomfield Hills, MI that puts voice mail msgs. on his CD’s fairly often.
Any connection?
The reason I ask is that turn about is fair.
Anyway I would be offended if I was not asked first no matter what the content of the msg is. I thought at first it would depend on the content but thinking it over I changed my mind. You should be able to have private conversations without them playing at at a CD release party.
I’d be offended. I don’t know that the content of the message matters-- although I might hold less of a grudge if I thought I was unrecognizable or delibrately funny rather than having left an embarrassing message.
I probably would have been willing to give permission for the use, even if the message was embarassing-- but it strikes me that the person wanting to publish the message should have had the courtesy to say “Hey, I want to put your message on my CD, is that OK?” and better yet get me to sign off on it being ok.
(Last year I signed a release to allow a moderately embarassing picture of myself to be printed in a newsletter. I’m not sure they actually printed it–and it isn’t a picture likely to come back to haunt me in the future (In other words–I’m not naked, clad only in a bathing suit, or behaving in an inappropriate manner–it just is a candid shot I’d rather not have had recorded for posterity and widely shared inside the organization whose even I attended) but I’d have felt more ridiculous refusing permission than I would seeing this picture again in print-- even if it became more widely printed than I then foresaw. I suspect I’d feel much the same way about a voicemail message- provided I was asked for permission first. I’d feel very much like my privacy had been invaded if I wasn’t asked for permission first.)
Since you’re clearly not looking for legal advice, I’ll decline to give that portion of it.
Would I be offended by it if it happened to me? I really could not tell you unless I was in that position. My gut says yes but it would really depend on who the people were who put in on the CD, their motivations and my relationship to them both now and at the point I left the message.
Do I think he has a right to be offended? Absolutely. And if he came to me saying he was offended and asking what he could do about it I would certainly tell him to seek legal advice/legal remedies over it.
There’s no doubt in my mind that using the recording of the voicemail message on the CD without his permission is unethical. Even if it’s not a criminal act, I hope the guy is able to get a substantial remedy on the civil side.
Tough question; I don’t know a lot about civil lawsuits or how one awards damages, but my gut instinct says I’d award a certain amount for every CD produced that had his recording on it, then some amount above that for the proverbial pain and suffering type damages. Don’t ask me to pick an actual amount though, I’m always baffled by how someone decides someone else’s suffering or character damage is worth XYZ amount.
