Negativland vs. SST
So I did a little internet sleuthing to refresh myself on the skinny between Negativland, SST Records, Island Records, U2, Casey Kasem, etc. As near as I can tell SST Records did indeed behave badly and very much against the spirit of free expression usually associated with them when they decided to sue Negativland basically because Negativland exposed SST’s press release threats to sue Negativland! Undoubtedly there were legal fees incurred by SST in dealings with Island Records’ demands that they stop production of the recordings and destroy all known copies of it( which SST did!). In any case it seems clear enough to me that SST did not back up their Artist, and in fact did just the opposite! Negativland are notorious anti-establishment shit-stirrers, so it is probable that they were not especially cooperative in the whole affair (good for them!). I have ordered a copy of “Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2” which I hope to have available for perusal at next month’s event.
visceraudio 