Nic Belor v. Ryan Adams

[waltdogg]

oh? how wonderful.

[aedes]

Only stopping to say that I saw Ryan Adams last year because my wife and a few buddies fully idolize him. I was in the doghouse for a few days because I went to the bar to get a drink, sat down for a minute and fell asleep for most of the show. Shits so boring. And he was a total ass to people there during the part I was awake for.

yeah back in the mid 90s everyone was saying 'you gotta see whiskeytown! you gotta see whiskeytown!' so my wife and i went to the brewery in raleigh to see them. the whole band was up on stage, just playing, and this little drunk kid shows up about a half hour later, starts slurring some shit into the mic, fell into the crowd a couple of times. we left after a couple of songs. man they sucked. i've hated him ever since.

[Jwar]

Nic and Ryan Adams are both douche bags.

Nic is a super idiot and rips people off, so fuck him. Ryan has some of the worst music ever, so fuck him.


I would like to point out that there is likely no infringement because Nic most likely used a normal font that he did not create and the rest is clip art or shit he did not actually do himself. That shirt and pedal look lame and boring as fuck.

If anything, Nic ought to appreciate the free publicity. The shit heal.

[popvulture]

I really like a few of Ryan's records—Heartbreaker, Gold, Cold Roses—others are fucking dogshit. Rock n Roll is probably the most embarrassing, and his new shit is pretty wack as well. The chorus pedal worship is beyond grating.

Beyond that, he seems to be just a colossal choad of a person. The thing that cracked me up the most recently was when he announced that he was never doing another cover record basically because people were too mean about the Taylor Swift album. It was a clever idea, songs were kinda lame (I mean, consider the source material), but regardless of the output, there are going to be some people who think it sucks no matter what. To get your ass all chapped over something like that is just pointless. Fucking grow up, dude.

[jrfox92]

Man, I love controversy.
Especially on TGP.

Hello everyone,

First of all I just wanted to say thank you for the support.
I appreciate the fact that a lot of you are open-minded and I’m sure you can understand that this has been a headache for myself.
I wanted to personally address some things because I feel that this situation deserves honesty and attention.
I’m not so much opening this up for discussion as I am attempting to dispel negativity with a single post. I am, after all, trying to build pedals!


1. How much control did Ryan have over the decision?
Ryan works closely with his designer. So closely, that he would ‘…stay up late with him and watch old movies, frame by frame, to copy cool posters or billboards..’. This is something he literally said to me on the phone. This is practiced. Ryan bought this pedal from me. Ryan handed the designer photos of my pedals. Ryan signed off on it.

The design in question is derivative rather than transformative.


2. Midnight Amplification is being hypocritical
So, to make it EXTRA clear, I will outline the facts.

a) The “Big Riff” pedal has been discontinued for some time. There were 10 made.
I felt uncomfortable continuing it as it’s not an overly creative design (compared to my other work) and I felt I was capable of something better.
I was never contacted by EHX, but I never wanted it to get to that point; hence why I pulled it.
I don’t think they would be concerned with 10 pedals floating out there in the world.

b) Amp designs:
There are two amps I have built with Midnight Amplification.
One of which I am still in possession. Yes they are similar, but by no means are they the same.
Until I’ve finalised the exterior, Midnight Amplification will not sell amps.

c) The “Starburner” pedal with the Startrek style graphics actually comes under the ‘Parody’ usage.
It was meant to be a tip of the hat, fun, and something people can geek out on.
I don’t believe Star Trek will be suffering damages.


3. How much is this worth?
I want to make it really clear that this isn’t about money to me.
This also isn’t about exposure to me.
I feel like I’ve been wronged here as an artist and business owner, and I wanted resolution.
I’ve attempted to amicably resolve it multiple times, but to no avail.

Ryan’s manager mentioned that there would be 10,000 units produced in our initial phone call.
Even if it was half that number (5,000), that’s $125,000USD from the T-shirt bundle alone.
Halve that number again: $62,500USD for 2,500 t shirt bundles…. and I’m certain they’ll sell more than that.

That minimum number is more than the average annual wage in Australia. Hell, a lot more than most musicians and creatives earn anywhere.
I understand there are many devil’s advocates. However, to compare 10 pedals and 10,000 shirts…. it’s a completely different scenario, one I hope that logic will prevail.


4. Seems like perfect timing for a Christmas sale
I do normally like to run a sale at Christmas. I think it’s a nice way to give back to the community, especially online.
However, this situation has forced my hand. I think the public should know.
It’s not like I wanted to do this, but I had exhausted all options and I’m frustrated.
This shouldn’t have even had to happen, but here we are.
I’m not asking for a hand out, but I’m asking for help from a community that has always been supportive, to defend myself.


As I write this post, the t-shirt design in question has been pulled from his webstore, but is still seen on his instagram. I am disappointed that it had to come to this and am honestly surprised it did.
I hope this answers some questions and puts some things to rest.

Thanks again for the support, it means the world.

Nic

[D.o.S.]

I felt uncomfortable continuing it as it’s not an overly creative design (compared to my other work)

b) Amp designs:
There are two amps I have built with Midnight Amplification.
One of which I am still in possession. Yes they are similar, but by no means are they the same.
Until I’ve finalised the exterior, Midnight Amplification will not sell amps.

c) The “Starburner” pedal with the Startrek style graphics actually comes under the ‘Parody’ usage.

[waltdogg]

[Jwar]

Nic is so full of it.

Also this made me LOL hard.

[Jwar]

Son of a bitch! It's too big!!!

[D.o.S.]

Cave In song title + Big Muff enclosure = profit?

[popvulture]

Lulz that one is just offensive.

[Jwar]

Fixed but not sure why the text didn't appear??

EHX wrote-

"25% off Big Muffs with discount code MIDNIGHT-AMPS-POT-KETTLE-BLACK"


Not sure if that's real or not, but someone posted it and it was hilarious.

[jrfox92]

Fixed but not sure why the text didn't appear??

EHX wrote-

"25% off Big Muffs with discount code MIDNIGHT-AMPS-POT-KETTLE-BLACK"


Not sure if that's real or not, but someone posted it and it was hilarious.

It was a joke, a hilarious one.

[Jwar]

I wrote a big ass reply on TGP then deleted it. #dontcareenough lol

[popvulture]

Big ass replies on TGP are never advised, unless you're looking for reasons to fill yourself with rage.