Metallica to Have Themed Night at San Francisco Giants Game

As residents of the Bay Area, Metallica are undoubtedly proud of their San Francisco Giants. Now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are joining forces with the 2012 World Series champions for a special Metallica Night at AT&T Park.

On Friday, May 3, the band will sing the national anthem and throw out the ceremonial first pitch. There will also be Metallica-themed entertainment throughout the game. Fans who purchase the Special Event Ticket Package will also receive a special-edition cap featuring both the Metallica and Giants logos in the team’s orange-and-black color scheme.

The Giants will be playing their arch-enemies, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their mutual contempt extends back to the earliest days of professional baseball in America, when both teams played in New York City. This continued even though it was former Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley who, in 1958, convinced Giants owner Horace Stoneham to leave New York City and follow them to California. Perhaps the Giants feel that, by partnering with the metal legends, they will be able to conjure up the dark forces and put a hex on their fiercest rivals.

But the night is actually for a good cause. A portion of the proceeds from the night will benefit the Bill Graham Foundation, whose mission, according to its website, is to give “grants primarily in the areas of music, the arts and education, while also supporting social work, environmental protection, and spiritual and compassionate projects in our community.”

For more information, visit the Giants’ website.

source: ultimateclassicrock.com

Velvet Underground Lose Andy Warhol Copyright Claim

The Velvet Underground do not have a valid copyright claim on the Andy Warhol artwork on the cover of the band's 1967 debut, a federal judge ruled in dismissing part of the band's trademark infringement lawsuit against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The dispute began in 2009 when the Warhol Foundation claimed the band's use of the image infringed on the foundation's copyright. The group rejected the copyright claim, countering that the banana print on the cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico was, in fact, a band trademark. The Velvet Underground filed suit in January after learning that the Warhol Foundation had licensed the image for a line of iPhone cases. The band demanded the Warhol Foundation stop licensing the banana image, and pay the band for past licensing.

The Warhol Foundation responded with a promise never to sue the Velvet Underground for copyright infringement for use of the banana design, which meant there was no longer a copyright dispute, U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan ruled last week.

Nathan didn't rule on who owns the rights to the image. The band says the banana print is so closely identified with them that any use of it by the Warhol Foundation would confuse the public, while the foundation notes that the Velvet Underground broke up in 1972. The band has licensed the image over the years for uses including pillow cases and, in 2001, an Absolut Vodka advertising campaign.

Among various other stipulations in the judge's decision comes this one, which is sure to disappoint fans hoping for one more reunion: "The Velvet Underground broke up as a band in 1972; it last performed live in 1993 and will never perform live again."

source: rollingstone.com