February 09, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
Timbaland Responds to Accusations of Song Theft
Commodore 64 musician accuses Tim of stealing beat for Nelly Furtado song.
A Finnish musician has accused Timbaland of stealing a song he wrote in 2000 and using it in Nelly Furtado's "Do It." Janne Suni, who is known among computer composer's circles as Tempest, claims large portions of his song "Acid Jazzed Evening," written on a retro videogame console, was used without credit in "Do It."
The computer composition subculture, known as the "demoscene," and has its origins in groups of composers who make music using outdated consoles, such as the Commodore 64 and the Atari ST. Since the discovery of the similarities between the two songs, many movies defending Tempest have emerged on YouTube.
(start here:
On Wednesday, Timbaland appeared on "Elliott in the Morning." He denied the accusations, defended sampling and implied the song was "public domain." Listen here:
Article tags: Timbaland, Responds, Accusations, Song, Theft
Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/02/timbaland_commodore_64/
Comments
1.
ZeeKat says:
It's sad how many people is defending obvious fsckup on Timbaland's side. Seems like mainstream pop rased generation of people who don't care much about honesty (and creativity).
Timbaland clearly used work of other artist, and no matter how hard you try to justify him by pointing how famous he is - objectively, Timbaland acted like utter parasite. Hope Tempest'll get nice apologies (and lotsa money, why not, Timbaland earned some on his work surely) of this all.
September 2, 2007 at 1:27 pm
2.
yasahi says:
A small correction to my first post, the original was composed solely by Janne Suni aka Tempest and was later "remixed" by Glenn Rune Gallefoss with his c64. Either way, this changes nothing in the case vs. timbaland.
By the way, I just learned that Janne Suni is currently using the services of a law firm in this case.
August 21, 2007 at 3:55 pm
3.
yasahi says:
I'd just like to clarify a few things here.
First of all, Janne Suni aka Tempest composed the song, which Timbaland is accused of stealing parts from, completely himself. The song is NOT for any bloody video game...
I don't know why some of you keep saying it's not a big deal and the video game company should be the one suing. What bloody video game company? This song was originally written WITH an old game console.. not FOR a game or anything like that. It's clearly said in the article, read with you eyes: ..."song "Acid Jazzed Evening," written ON a retro videogame console..."
Now, to people the likes of Black_Smith, try not to make a fool of yourself by rambling about things you don't know about. Demoscene and home musicians will remember stuff like this, of course YOU will remember timbaland and all the likes of him because that is the point of mainstream crap, keep people like you entertained.
I really hope timbaland is found guilty of stealing parts from this song, because being a wealthy popular person doesn't give you any rights to rip off people who actually make art much greater with so little, unlike the mainstream pop-culture artists with their nearly unlimited equipment and funds etc.
August 21, 2007 at 2:58 pm
4.
Black_Smith says:
Come on now...he sampled the song from a video game. Get over most ppl don't even remember that shit. I don't think its 100% right but get over it. The game & system aren't even around anymore...& who the hell is Janne Suni aka Tempest (I have a homegirl with that name). He's just looking 4 a little bit of shine from a video game tune he made decades ago. Commadore 64 & the makers of the game are the ones who should be suing...they're the ones with the exclusive rights...but they aren't complaing are they? Stop b**chin & move on Timbo will most likely settle out if court & make up what he lost with his next beat...Then Janne Suni & Commadore 64 will fall back into obscurity & once again be a thing of the past...There's a reason they're not around now...and a good reason why nobody cares
August 9, 2007 at 2:04 pm
5.
raj k says:
6 7 a 8 d
April 23, 2007 at 3:36 am
6.
Xp aka Osirus says:
Timbo dont pay nothing cause the sound is from a damn video game, ok sure he may be in legal trouble with the commadore 64's company, but who gives a flyin f about the finnish guys. they need to get a life and "finnish" some real music and stop crying.
and as far as the Sadsackof guy, reailze timbaland isnt going to cry if u steal his songs, cause in the end ,he's makin to much money.
'i get half a mil for my beats u get a couple graaaand"
April 3, 2007 at 10:25 pm
7.
Tanner says:
http://a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff-t.kc93rsf.info a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff [url]http://a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff-b1.kc93rsf.info[/url] [url=http://a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff-b2.kc93rsf.info]a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff[/url] [u]http://a2b989ecae51c9c02922c7f90fb3f8ff-b3.kc93rsf.info[/u] 72918d203b76bc5400617fd3caa6bd8c
April 3, 2007 at 9:12 am
8.
Sadsackof says:
So basically what this wanker Timbaland is saying is that it's alright for us to download and listen to "his" music as that's not "stealing" because we didn't physically walk into his recording studio and take any physical property.
This guy may be making money hand over fist, but he's an ignorant fool who should be prosecuted just as if the RIAA were pulling down some 14 year old MP3 downloader, which is to say harshly and without mercy. What a freakin' knob.
March 24, 2007 at 9:41 pm
9.
Fuse AKA Ellz from the T says:
I’m the first person in the world to tell you that Timbaland is the greatest producer since Q, but um, the guy stole that, he used the complete drum pattern for Busta Rhymes’ song “What It Is (Pharell Williams’ drum pattern)” for his newest single “Give It To Me”, me and the CEO of my label picked up on it and we both produce tracks for our own CDs, the only thing he changed was the melody, so he’s even stealing from cohorts (please check references (Wikipidia, or other wiki sites) on Surrounded By Idiots the group with him, Magoo, and Pharell) and now talkin about apprentices such as Scott Storch,(and I’m Black, so it’s not as if I’m being racist, hell I’m a HUGE fan, I’m shocked!!!) as if he’s now got beef with people, I think he’s taken way too much time pumpin iron, and not making his own beats. As a producer who only has 4 of the 50 beats I have available with uncleared samples, (which are all of the samples I’ve used) I’m disappointed at Tim for taking such an arrogant stand on stealling, when in his heart he knows thats what he’s done. PAY THAT MAN, TIM!!! U KNOW WHAT’S RIGHT, YO MAMA TAUGHT YOU BETTER!!!
March 1, 2007 at 11:50 am
10.
Rico says:
Yeah looks like tim is goin down 4 dis 1
February 23, 2007 at 11:18 am
11.
wasp2020 says:
Look like Timbaland himself admitted to stealing the song and not crediting the original composer (calling him an "idiot", a "freakin jerk", and lambasting the song not worthy of crediting befcause it's 'from a video game'...here's your multi-million dollar producer for ya!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTvY3wZrHrQ
And there you go.
February 17, 2007 at 12:31 pm
12.
MedullaPancreas says:
I always thought this tune sounded peculiarly outside the genre of Timbaland/rap and more with the genre of electronica. And Timbaland is no electronica artist. I'm going to buy the rights to the song from Janne Suni and use it to make money. Let's all make our own songs with it!
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2274635
February 16, 2007 at 12:38 pm
13.
SID'o says:
daniel chege:
Timbo did not sample from a "Computer Game"
The finnish guy did the music for a demo competition at one of the largest demoparties.
Check the finnish guy's website, he explains it:
http://www.fairlight.fi/tempest/acidjazzed_evening/
February 13, 2007 at 8:10 am
14.
daniel chege says:
Basically,Tim sampled it without permission,but the one who should be suing is the video game company not the finnish guys.Anyways,listen to some samples here - http://p254.com and see if you can recognize who i sampled from?
February 12, 2007 at 8:23 pm
15.
SID'o says:
What is a C64? {...] the best selling single personal computer model of all time. {...]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
Now, that I've seen Timbo's real face I hope he get's what he deserves. He's too full of himself. It's time for a career change, Timbo.
February 12, 2007 at 4:21 pm
16.
old64scener says:
just to correct a few issues. ."written on a retro videogame console" the commodore 64 IS a computer , not a games console like a genesis/megadrive etc. sampling / blatent plagurism IN GENRERAL TERMS without clearance IS theft/stealing.
The vulgar tone and certain words used only show what a character he is. reminds me of a quote of matthew smith .. a gentleman who wasn't a gentleman.
February 12, 2007 at 3:35 pm
17.
Roman says:
WOW! I didn't expect you will be listening. Just one minor thing and I will not beep anymore. Please, change the "outdated consoles" to "outdated computers". Or "outdated home computers" and it will be flawless. Have a nice evening. And thanx for being openminded.
February 9, 2007 at 5:49 pm
18.
jshep says:
Dept. of Corrections - updated 2/9/07, 6:07 pm EST
February 9, 2007 at 5:07 pm
19.
Roman says:
Just to correct some things. Demoscene is a subculture which started around 1982 around the home computers that are outdated today, but were common at that time. It's not just largery webbased. It's organising major computer parties all around the world with local TV and spreading over more halls. Demoscene is not a retro scene.It's an art-scene. Retro scene is consisting of lovers of old computers. Demoscene is consisting of creative people using their favourite machines to produce art (music, graphics, programming skill demonstrations, video etc.). Demoscene is even on modern PC machines. It's a big thing.
February 9, 2007 at 4:36 pm
20.
Vim says:
I think Tibaland knows how copyright and Public Domain works, as he has been a producer for over 10 years, he ought to know that anything not expicitly declared to be in Public Domain isn't. So I assume that he feels it would be better to be labeled ignorant, than ...well... is there a better word than thief?
February 9, 2007 at 3:57 pm