Posts in "Lady Gaga"

Aaron Lieberman's picture
By Aaron Lieberman at 9:38AM
Bonnie Kristian's picture
By Bonnie Kristian at 2:01PM

The TSA and Lady Gaga

If you use the internet, you probably already know that Lady Gaga released a new video last night.  It's umm...a bit much for the YAL blog (so I won't be linking to it), and less germane than this lesser story about the singer:

The Telephone singer was catching a flight out of Los Angeles last night, and in true Gaga fashion, turned up in a bizarre emsemble....

But it was the sunglasses and black netting on her face that drew the most attention after she refused to take it off at passport control.  Security guards were forced to escort her into a private room where she was body-searched before being released 15 minutes later to catch her departing flight.

"Were forced"?   Really?  Gaga became famous relatively recently (or I'm more out of touch with pop music than I think...hmm, I feel old now), but she's known world-wide and instantly recognizable -- even without her typically outrageous outfits.  Does anyone really think that the TSA needed her to remove the glasses and netting to identify her?  I don't think so.  This is yet another example of the TSA's abuse of its unconstitutional power (albeit one which, since it got her publicity, Lady Gaga herself may not mind) (oh and each of those words is a separate link).

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Elliot Engstrom's picture
By Elliot Engstrom at 3:57PM

Death Metal, Lady Gaga, and Intellectual Property

While it is a basic and somewhat silly example, The Demonstration's video for their recent metal cover of Lady Gaga's song "Bad Romance" is an example of the benefits that can exist in the absence of intellectual property.  Lady Gaga could probably bring suit against the North Carolina metal band for using clips from her song and her lyrics, but instead has stated publicly that she is impressed with their work, and even promoted it on her Twitter.

While I'm not sure if Lady Gaga had intellectual property in mind when she made this decision, her actions have turned heads in the metal community, causing many metalheads, including myself, to rethink the image of Lady Gaga as just one more pop diva.  Instead, it seems that she is someone who appreciates a variety of styles of music.

In other words, Lady Gaga's decision not to push for enforcement of intellectual property rights has allowed her work to matriculate into markets that not only would normally pay no attention to her, but also were not even target audiences of hers at all.  She did not have to lift a finger, and yet her work is being spread, promoted, and appreciated in a place she never intended.


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