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4:09 pm - 01/18/2013

Glee rips off Geek King Jonathan Coulton

Glee made its name on enthusiastic unoriginality. The hit TV show, in which high school teens sing syrupy-sweet covers of famous pop tunes, has never really relied on new musical material. But the cover arrangements on the show are often very original—smart, interesting reharmonizations and mash-ups that often make even the tiredest pop tunes sound fresh.

However, with one of their arrangements for next week's episode, Glee appears to have flagrantly stolen an arrangement from geeky songwriter Jonathan Coulton.

Coulton, well-known for his now-classic video game anthem "Still Alive" from the game Portal (as well as for performing on our roof deck that one time), tweeted about the song this morning:



( Compare/contrast under the cutCollapse )

well, that is pretty blatant.

Coulton's twitter
Source 2
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hoot 18th-Jan-2013 09:50 pm (UTC)
They didn't even take out the "Johnny C's in trouble" part. Jesus Christ that was some sloppy theft.
fwee_prower 18th-Jan-2013 09:50 pm (UTC)
Ok I gave in a listened and oh my god. It's exactly the same.
tigermilk 18th-Jan-2013 09:50 pm (UTC)
Cue IMITATION IS THE BEST FORM OF FLATTERY NO ONE EVER HEARD OF YOU ANYWAY YOU SHOULD BE HONORED NOBODY.
klmnumbers 18th-Jan-2013 09:52 pm (UTC)
If anyone comes for JoCo, I will SLICE THEM UP.
tigermilk 18th-Jan-2013 09:53 pm (UTC)
And I'll watch.
smirk_dog 18th-Jan-2013 10:14 pm (UTC)
And I will join you.
bagelsvswaffles 18th-Jan-2013 09:53 pm (UTC)
Like the post when Glee stole that guy's cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"?
antumbral 18th-Jan-2013 09:51 pm (UTC)
Very gross plagiarism, Glee. Especially considering how cool Coulton has been about trying new distribution models and supporting progressive ways to enjoy music. He usually makes his recordings widely available for free or very cheap.

Hate to see Glee profiteering from someone who's actually something of a pioneer of new ways to make and spread music. Dick move, Glee. Just low.

Edited at 2013-01-18 09:52 pm (UTC)
auralan 18th-Jan-2013 09:58 pm (UTC)
This. He's a good guy who even has a creative commons license. Not cool to do this to him. Worse, Glee's music producer Anders is over on twitter talking smack about how he doesn't get that this is actually a great opportunity for him to become better known. Um ... I think they're the ones who have no bleeping idea how well known he is.

Edited at 2013-01-18 09:58 pm (UTC)
mondler_4ever 18th-Jan-2013 10:04 pm (UTC)
I hate how Glee thinks they can do anything and can use the argument: "It's making you more known!!" No. That's not how it works.
antumbral 18th-Jan-2013 10:05 pm (UTC)
Code Monkey was my ANTHEM through high school, college, and beyond. I still identify with it, even though my present job isn't quite as codemonkey as some of my previous ones.

But yeah, I suspect they underestimate Coulton's fanbase.
hera_bearrra 18th-Jan-2013 10:07 pm (UTC)
The last thing I'd want is to become famous through Glee
givethesignal 18th-Jan-2013 10:08 pm (UTC)
More like it's actually a great opportunity for Glee to fall into a hole forever
black_phoenix 19th-Jan-2013 12:18 am (UTC)
Yeah, like ... the thing about it is, that nothing that Glee or anyone involved with it will ever say will change the fact that it would have taken them ten seconds to call him and ask.

I think music copyright laws should be altered to give people who do their own arrangement of covers more rights to their version of the song.
givethesignal 18th-Jan-2013 10:09 pm (UTC)
MTE. It just goes to show how minimal the research is that goes into this tragically-turned-offensively horrible TV show
morgan90 18th-Jan-2013 09:52 pm (UTC)
They should apologize by cancelling this show
capitalized 18th-Jan-2013 09:52 pm (UTC)
they did the same thing to greg laswell's girls just want to have fun
geekchicrichie 18th-Jan-2013 09:57 pm (UTC)
Literally came here just to say this
la_petite_singe 18th-Jan-2013 10:05 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I couldn't remember what song it was, but I knew I'd heard this before. No surprise.
hera_bearrra 18th-Jan-2013 10:04 pm (UTC)
LOL I just posted the same comment down below
cherrybombx 18th-Jan-2013 09:54 pm (UTC)
did they seriously think they would get away with this?

$10 says they'll offer him a lame cameo or something to make up for it.
rpsuc 18th-Jan-2013 10:00 pm (UTC)
Lol I mean...they didn't even try.
howthedaysounds 18th-Jan-2013 10:00 pm (UTC)
Pressed play on them both at the same time, and they are THE. EXACT. SAME. They didn't even try to make it a little different. Rude.
geekchicrichie 18th-Jan-2013 10:10 pm (UTC)
HOLY SHIT! I thought there might be a slight difference when I played them at the same time but they literally are both EXACTLY THE SAME! LMFAO!!
hope_remains 18th-Jan-2013 11:26 pm (UTC)
lmfao yes! I did the exact same thing and was shocked at how 100% exact the rip-off is
friarsfire 18th-Jan-2013 11:31 pm (UTC)
OMGGGGG Like, if you alternate muting them it goes on without skipping a beat. Kids Bop COULD NEVER
mistyraven 18th-Jan-2013 11:45 pm (UTC)
Holy crap... like, it is literally exactly the same. This is pathetic.
demikkusuu 18th-Jan-2013 11:53 pm (UTC)
hasa diga ryan murphy
springandsummer 19th-Jan-2013 12:21 am (UTC)
I'm cracking up more than I should :x
amore 18th-Jan-2013 10:01 pm (UTC)
they both sound like a completely unrelated song that i can't place at the moment
nicefinalbeam 18th-Jan-2013 11:30 pm (UTC)
I kept hearing "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane" in this.
amore 18th-Jan-2013 11:52 pm (UTC)
yes, this is definitely it.
geekchicrichie 18th-Jan-2013 10:03 pm (UTC)
The fact that they actually sing Jonathon Coulton's lyric "Jonny C's in trouble" is fucking hilarious!!!
klmnumbers 18th-Jan-2013 10:04 pm (UTC)
Yeah. I think that is my favorite part.
_xxtom 18th-Jan-2013 10:10 pm (UTC)
right?!? its so hilariously pathetic
hera_bearrra 18th-Jan-2013 10:03 pm (UTC)
Glee ripped off Greg Laswell's cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" too.
vivisexion 18th-Jan-2013 10:04 pm (UTC)
glee just really sucks
la_petite_singe 18th-Jan-2013 10:06 pm (UTC)
LOL, wow, this show just keeps getting worse & worse. "Brittana Is Not A Joke" was trending earlier and all these indignant fans were like "the writers are disrespectful of these characters/lesbians!!" and I was like brandnewinformation.gif. Sheesh. Brittana is/was one of the few legit good things on the show, and that's because THE FANS CAME UP WITH IT.
microminiscrew 19th-Jan-2013 01:51 am (UTC)
Brittany/Santana is terrible though, from conception onwards. Nothing legit about it. Maybe because it should have stayed a fan thing. Although I doubt the show would do a better job of girl/girl couple on their own so eh
kamikashi 18th-Jan-2013 10:07 pm (UTC)
lol at the glee stans on the youtube comments. they are acting as if coulton never brought this up and only random internet users did so they have no proof that glee didnt pay coulton to use his stuff... when coulton himself said he was never contacted.
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