Apocalyptica Forced To Pay Rammstein €45,000

Apocalyptica have been forced to pay Rammstein €45,000 (£38,000) after admitting in court to copyright infringement.

The complaint stemmed from the advertising campaign for Apocalyptica's 2007 album "Worlds Collide", on which Rammstein’s Till Lindemann was one of the guest vocalists. The CD was sold with a sticker across its cover that said it featured "Rammstein" and not just Lindemann.

The case was heard before the Regional Court of Berlin last month, with Rammstein awarded the money in damages as Apocalyptica were deemed to have broken trademark infringement, reports German legal news website Anwalt24.de.

Apocalyptica, who recorded entirely instrumentally until 2005, were recently forced to drop Shinedown singer Brent Smith from their new single "Not Strong Enough" as they’d failed to secure the rights to use his voice from Shinedown's record label. He has been replaced by Hoobastank's Doug Robb.

Thanks for the report to Nme.com.

Comments

[Birdall]

oh, please.

[azisnomarsa]

This is just stupid

[Comeback Kiddd]

when I read the title, the first thing that came to mind was "another coldplay?"

[musicismylifee]

oh wow....

[dhruvrajvanshi]

am I the only one who thinks one of them looks like James Hetfield?

[Macabre Lullaby]

Well, that's their label's fault so I don't really think it's a big deal. Apocalyptica didn't rip Rammstein off or anything, so hopefully the label covered the damages and then life goes on.

[Blume]

What a d*ck move by Rammstein. Guess no one will be askin' Till to do guest vocal spots anymore.

[FirstBlood1973]

The one with black hair does look like James Hetfield.

[XtractionProces]

Bit late, don't you think?

[DaDude450]

By now Apocalypticas management has to just be like "Oh f*** it, I quit."

[krypticguitar87]

well if you breech contract you should pay for it, the sticker should have read "featuring Ramstien singer Till Lindemann", and it really doesn't matter if the label did it or they did, when you sign a contract with anyone, you are responsible for both fulfilling the contract and also notbreaking the contract. that simple.

[Solarstar101]

they spent that much on pyro per show

[Wakisazhi]

krypticguitar87 wrote:

well if you breech contract you should pay for it, the sticker should have read "featuring Ramstien singer Till Lindemann", and it really doesn't matter if the label did it or they did, when you sign a contract with anyone, you are responsible for both fulfilling the contract and also notbreaking the contract. that simple.

Uh yeah it does matter. IF the LABEL DID IT then most definitely that money should be coming out of the LABEL's pocket, not the band's. And based on how things generally are its most definitely like that it is the LABEL's fault. If the band asked for Till Lindemann by name to perform on a song I'm pretty sure they'd know to put his name on the sticker, however with the way things are the LABEL probably assumed people wouldn't know who Till Lindemann is and thought it would make the album sell more if they simply put that it featured Rammstein.

[krypticguitar87]

Wakisazhi wrote:

krypticguitar87 wrote:

well if you breech contract you should pay for it, the sticker should have read "featuring Ramstien singer Till Lindemann", and it really doesn't matter if the label did it or they did, when you sign a contract with anyone, you are responsible for both fulfilling the contract and also notbreaking the contract. that simple.


Uh yeah it does matter. IF the LABEL DID IT then most definitely that money should be coming out of the LABEL's pocket, not the band's. And based on how things generally are its most definitely like that it is the LABEL's fault. If the band asked for Till Lindemann by name to perform on a song I'm pretty sure they'd know to put his name on the sticker, however with the way things are the LABEL probably assumed people wouldn't know who Till Lindemann is and thought it would make the album sell more if they simply put that it featured Rammstein.

yes, but it doesn't matter in terms of the contract. if the label did it, it is between apocalyptica and the label not ramstien and the label. I'm going off the assumtion that the contract was between the two bands, and the labels had little to do with it, and of course if the label is at fault, then apocalyptica can get that money back from their label, but if the contract doesn't allow them to use that kind of promotion, apocalyptica is responsible for making sure that the album does not go out that way.

not to mention that they could get a false advertising suit as well by saying that ramstein is on the album, but they arent only their singer is. they should be grateful that this is the only problem theyve had with this advertising so far...

[GodzillaDeth]

dhruvrajvanshi wrote:

am I the only one who thinks one of them looks like James Hetfield?

the guy on the left definitely does

[Ultraturtle0]

I'm not a fan of any of the bands involved, but these are just examples of labels restricting the creative freedom of artists.

[slaveskinJACKET]

GodzillaDeth wrote:

dhruvrajvanshi wrote:

am I the only one who thinks one of them looks like James Hetfield?

the guy on the left definitely does

None of them look like James Hetfield. They all have hair... and a facial structure. So, in a small picture, from far away, they all look like James Hetfield as much as any one of them does, which is none.

On Topic: maybe Rammstein should make music that doesn't suck, and then maybe they wouldn't have to depend on the misrepresentations/mistakes of others for a payday.

[a7x4life666]

This is just stupid. £38,000 for a sticker.

[maximumrocker]

wow this is retarded....

[Martyfan]

I'd imagine it's more the men in the suits suing each other, rather than the bands. Though, I might be wrong!

[snaaake]

Complainers get over it.

You can't just put whatever you want in the credits.

Just kidding. Look for my new album, coming out soon.
Big thanks go out to RONNIE JAMES DIO and JIMI HENDRIX for getting in on a few of the tracks.

[rechris06]

slaveskinJACKET wrote:

GodzillaDeth wrote:

dhruvrajvanshi wrote:

am I the only one who thinks one of them looks like James Hetfield?

the guy on the left definitely does

None of them look like James Hetfield. They all have hair... and a facial structure. So, in a small picture, from far away, they all look like James Hetfield as much as any one of them does, which is none.

On Topic: maybe Rammstein should make music that doesn't suck, and then maybe they wouldn't have to depend on the misrepresentations/mistakes of others for a payday.

You are joking right? Of course not. Your have your opinions but i think Rammstein is great, and they are like the Metallica of Germany in terms of how famous they are. So saying that, i doubt money is an issue. And like others said, it probably isn't R+ directly doing this.

[Vordaï]

Ok, did someone read the info given by Apocalyptica about R+ never sued Apocalyptica but Sony Germany, who did the mistake? It's here: http://www.apocalyptica.com/fr/news/correction-reg-wrong-inf romation-about-settlement

[gibson2481girl]

apocalyptica ****ed up, rammstein tought them a lesson. in the process they got 45,000. I don't get why it's such a big deal, heaps of bands sue other people for copyright issues. if i could make an easy 45,000 like that, i'd do it.

[Joshman13x]

What I wanna know is how the bands reacted to this crap. I don't know much about German copyright laws, but i know there a little stricter. All I wanna know is if Rammstein was ok with this or not. Also what Vordai said sounds legit(being that it was on there site).
I'm confused as hell, but Rammstein still kicks ass