Least Shocking News Ever of the Day: The Dudes in Trapt are Total D-Bags
Trapt, purveyors of horrible radio rawk and fine drink coasters, shocked the world this week by turning out to be exactly the kind of ass clowns you’d imagine the guys who wrote “Headstrong” would be.
The trouble started when the band posted internet metal sensation Rob Scallon’s “00000” video to their Facebook page… which wouldn’t be a big deal, except that instead of just embedding the clip from Scallon’s YouTube account, they ripped it and re-uploaded it. In case it’s not clear: this is a shitty thing to do because it denies Scallon any revenue generated by views of the video. Scallon called attention to Trapt’s crappy behavior, and after the rest of the webernets voiced outrage, Trapt finally took the clip down and tried to backpedal, claiming they were just trying to help Scallon out. Which makes no sense, because the helpful thing to do would have been to just embed his original video.
ANYWAY, metal’s own Last Angry Man, the great Glenn Fricker, called attention to Trapt’s misdeeds via the below video about click theft, which, in typical Fricker form, is funny and smart and totally dead-on (and gave us the phrase “cunt slime,” which I will be using from now until the day I die):
Trapt, in turn, responded in a manner befitting… well… cunt slime:
Even if Trapt had a legitimate legal point (which they do not — more on that in a second), this would be an egregious case of the pot calling the kettle black. ‘Cause what it really says is, “Your video calling us out on our copyright violation violates our copyright.” It’s the ethical equivalent of an MC Escher illustration.
But here’s the thing — Trapt don’t have a legitimate legal point, for reasons that Fricker actually makes clear in the video which so deeply offended the band: he uses their logo and a small sample of their music as part of an editorial. It’s the same reason your local television news can use a band’s logo when reporting on that band without having to worry about getting sued. Put more simply: it’s fair use.
Now, there are two possibilities, each of which seem equally plausible to me: either the dudes in Trapt are so dumb they don’t even realize that they’re so full of shit it’s leaking outta their ears, or the dudes in Trapt basically went, “Wow, this is the most publicity we’ve gotten in ten years, how can we prolong our return to the spotlight?”
Regardless of the thinking behind Trapt’s deplorable behavior, Scallon, Fricker, and everyone with a fully-functioning brain between his or her ears can take comfort knowing that the band will almost surely return to obscurity in 3… 2… 1…
Who the fuck were we talking about again?
