WHO REALLY OWNS HIP HOP?
USE THE TERM 'HIP HOP' & PAY A LICENSING FEE
by Davey D
It looks like the Hip Hop community now faces its
biggest challenge.
Forget police task forces or discriminating night
club owners, folks
will now have to gear up to do some serious battle
with a Los Angeles
businessman named Richard Gonahangya and his
company America Media
Operative Inc. For those who don't know AMO Inc is
a little known
company that specializes in lobbying Congress and
advising government
officials on media policy. They yield a lot of
influence over the FCC
and other agencies that determine policy. The word
around town is 'what
they say goes'.
Gonahangya a staunch conservative, held a small
press conference in
Compton, Ca yesterday to announce that his company
AMO Inc had recently
trademarked and brought the rights to the
word/phrase 'Hip Hop'. As a
result they will soon start charging a licensing
fee for anyone who
wishes to use the word in a commercial/ for profit
project.
Taking advantage of a provision in the recently
amended Millennium
Copyright Act of 2001, Gonahangya explained that
he and his company have
all the legal ammunition and clearance to own the
rights to the phrase
'Hip Hop'. He noted that the Hip Hop industry has
generated over 20
billion dollars last year in the United States
alone. The phrase Hip
Hop is now a powerful marketing tool and his
company is posed to profit
handsomely in 2003 from its 'proper' usage. The
new licensing fee is
estimated to net AMO Inc a whooping 5-8 billion
dollars a year.
"Any business including record labels, videos,
radio stations or
television shows that use the phrase 'Hip Hop' in
the title or marketing
body of their work will have to pay AMO Inc a
licensing fee", Gonahangya
told reporters. 'We are not attempting to stifle
free speech or muzzle
popular culture.. we have no legal grounds from
preventing anyone who
wishes to use the word in everyday speech, however
if you are using the
word in a manner that associates you with a
salable product, then we
fully intend to collect our fee".
Gonahangya went on to explain that what he is
doing is not unusual.
There are many popular words that are used in
everyday conversations
that are trademarked and cannot be used in
commercial ventures without
permission. 'The word 'Xerox' is often used
interchangeably with
'copy'. The word 'Vaseline' is used
interchangeably with lotion or
grease. he also explained that the word
Rock-N-Roll is trademarked by a
major label record executive who at the time could
not charge a
licensing fee.
Gonahangya laid out his company's strategy for
2003. He explained that
AMO Inc is giving record labels and performers a
one month grace period
to get their business affairs in order. Starting
in May letters will be
sent out to anyone who is using the term 'Hip Hop'
explaining that the
word is now trademarked and that if they wish to
continue to use it in
the body of their work, they will have to register
with his company and
be assessed a licensing fee. Letters have already
been sent to several
Hip Hop internet websites with more to come. He
estimated the average
fee will be anywhere from 2-5 thousand dollars
plus residual fees per
project. Permission to use the word will be on a
case by case basis.
In addition any future projects released using the
term ' Hip Hop' will
have to have the 'TM' symbol next to the word.
When asked if he felt AMO Inc was being
exploitative and attempting to
blackmail a viable popular culture, Gonahangya
bluntly stated; 'This is
not about culture. This is about business... The
laws have been set up
for anyone and everyone to use. Our company took
advantage of what was
on the books for almost a year and that what we
are doing is now
perfectly legal... Hip Hop is a big multi-billion
dollar a year
business. I was surprised that a big executive
like Russell Simmons or
Clive Davis or even business savy rappers like
Jay-Z, P-Diddy or Eminem
never trademarked the phrase. Everyone in America
knows that you don't
do business without protecting your assets. It's
just plain stupid not
to leave yourself this wide open.. If the Hip Hop
community is that
dumb when it comes to business then too bad. Don't
make me out to be
the bad guy".
When asked if he intends to share any of the
profits from licensing the
word 'Hip Hop' with any of Hip Hop's pioneers
including Lovebug Starski
who first coined the phrase back in the lates 70s
or Afrika Bambaataa
who popularized and spread the word, Gonahangya
laughed. 'I never heard
of a Mr Starski and as for sharing profits with
people from Africa..No
my people are originally from Denmark, Norway.
When another reporter told Gonahangya that Afrika
Bambaataa was
someone's name, Gonahangya shrugged it off and
said he had no intentions
of sharing the profits with anyone but his company
and his family."
However, he did offer a discounted licensing fee
for Starski and
Bambaataa since they coined and helped popularized
the term.
When asked if there would be any sort of criteria
set up to determine
who will and will not be allowed to use the phrase
'Hip Hop', Gonahangya
explained that for most part if a company has the
money and a viable
revenue stream for residual payments then it
should be a 'piece of
cake'. As for criteria, Gonahangya explained that
he has very little
tolerance and respect for individuals and
companies that are attempting
to use the phrase Hip Hop for political gain.
"Recently the term 'Hip Hop' has been positioned
as a
progressive/liberal movement. That's unfair and a
totally one-sided
approach to what is an American institution.Hip
Hop is for everyone. It
is not a slick political campaign tool for Jesse
Jackson, Al Sharpton or
Hillary Clinton.", he retorted
Gonahangya became evasive when asked if he would
allow the term Hip Hop
to be used by any of the conservative
organizations that he regularly
associates with and lobbies for. " To be honest we
have not ruled them
out. We believe that Hip Hop needs to be
politically balanced. For
years Hip Hop has been associated with liberal
causes that have totally
undermined the moral fiber of this country. We
will be very selective
as to how Hip Hop will be used politically", he
said
Gonahangya continued; "I will assure you this...
In the future you will
not be seeing billboards or magazine ads with the
words 'Hip Hop' and
Reparations, 'Hip Hop' and Affirmative Action or
even 'Hip Hop' and
Black Power anytime soon. If it hasn't come
through our offices and
been granted a licensing fee then its existence
will be in violation of
the Millennium Copyright Act of 2001 and we intend
to aggressively go
after any violators and prosecute. This about
political integrity and
money".
Some our speculating that Gonahangya intends to
use his ownership of the
now trademarked term 'Hip Hop' to quiet down any
sort of political
movement that has been organizing around the term
in time for the 2004
elections.
We caught up with Greg Watkins webmaster of the
popular site
allhiphop.com and he noted that he had received a
letter from
Gonahangya's AMO Inc company earlier this month.
"He told us in the
letter that we were in violation of his this
trademark law and that me
and my partner Chuck would have to pay licensing
fee if we wanted to
keep the word 'Hip Hop in our name. We checked
with our lawyers and
found out that we were safe because we are
allhiphop and not just 'hip
hop'. It's obvious these guys are serious about
collecting their
money".
We caught up with long time Bay Area writer and
Hip Hop deejay Billy Jam
who does the Hip Hop Slam radio show and has the
website Hip Hop Slam.
"Yeah this attorney contacted my attorney and said
I would have to take
the 'Hip Hop' out of Hip Hop Slam or pay a fee if
I want to continue
doing business. At first I thought it was a joke
and then days later I
received a subpoena to show up in court. I was
told if I don't remove
the word Hip Hop from Hip Hop Slam or pay a
licensing fee then I could
lose my house, my car and my prized record
collection". Normally I don't
give a damn about such things, but I can't afford
to lose my records",
Billy Jam said
We caught up with popular Bay Area rapper /writer
JR The Rap Slanger out
of East Oakland. He said: " Look man, this
country's always been about
business and fools is gonna try and collect their
paper. But this is
straight up bullS%$T. How's this fool gonna try
and trademark a word
and collect a fee? Brothas need to rise up and
retaliate and put a foot
in his ass. But let's be honest, me personally I
don't have to worry
because I'm not really Hip Hop. I rap. I'm a
rapper. There's a
difference between rap and Hip Hop. I guess Hip
Hop is gonna die but
rap is gonna go on forever! He didn't trademark
the word Rap did he? "
As far as I can tell the word rap is not
trademarked. Nor can it be
because of it's long standing everyday usage.
We checked with famed NY copyright attorney Arnold
Esquire Sullivan and
he soberly explained that the new provisions that
have been added does
indeed give AMO Inc the right to trademark and
collect a licensing fee
for use of the word Hip Hop and any other coined
'unique' phrase. If
the word is made up or unique to the American
lexicon then it can be
trademarked and people will have to pay a fee if
they wish to use it in
any sort of business endeavor.
Sullivan explained the new amendment went through
around the same time
they were crafting the Patriot Act. "It's a shame
people went to sleep
on this. I hate to say this but Negroes had better
wake up and start
smelling the coffee. These people in Washington
are not playing".
Sullivan concluded by noting that failure to
comply with the new
trademark laws can result in serious economic
repercussions and a stiff
5 year prison sentence. He noted that the stiff
prison sentence came
after music industry executives and software
companies lobbied congress
for harsher penalties for bootleggers and other
'copyright' thieves'.
"Unfortunately this new trademark law as it
pertains to the phrase Hip
Hop can potentially land people in jail if they
try to make a profit off
it', Sullivan noted.
At the end of the press conference Gonahangya
explained that he is
currently in negotiations with a major broadcast
company so that they
will have the exclusive rights to the word 'Hip
Hop'. Gonahangya
declined to name the outlet that he is dealing
with, but he did note
that should everything work out according to plan
this media outlet has
vast resources and will set up offices throughout
the country and help
determine which projects and products will be
allowed to use the term
'Hip Hop'. Gonahangya refused to say whether or
not it would be an
outlet like Clear Channel, Viacom or Emmis that
would be determining who
can or cannot use the word 'Hip Hop'. "It would be
premature for me to
give out that information", he said
It is clear that big corporations and government
lobbyist now own Hip
Hop.
Gonahangya also reiterated the fact that he is
extending a month long
grace period. He also used the occasion to pitch
his new licensing
service. In what appeared to be a real cheesy move
he stated that he
was offering a one time discount for the next two
weeks. He explained
that he understands that there are a lot of
non-profits that use the
phrase Hip Hop in literature and other marketing
schemes and as a result
they will be granted a one time 500 dollar
processing fee and will
subjected to the similar constraints of their 501
non profit status.
That means they can not use Hip Hop as a political
marketing arm.
Non political Independent record labels and artist
can obtain a lifetime
license to use the word Hip Hop for 500 dollars.
Gonahangya explained
that he believes in doing things for the community
and this is his way
of giving back.
"Let it not be said I don't care for the
underdog", he said. AMO Inc is
all about helping the downtrodden. We normally
charge on average of
5000 thousand plus lifetime residual fees, but
because we care about the
little people we will offer Hip Hop [TM] for 500
dollars licensing fee
for the next two weeks.
If anyone wishes to fill out an application to see
if you qualify to use
the term 'Hip Hop' in your product or if you want
more information on
AMO Inc call them at 1-800-233-456
or Go to their webpage.
http://pub12.ezboard.com/fpoliticalp...?topicID=3.top
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