Currently, one of Tik Tok’s most popular sounds is a song by the artists Oliver Tree and Robin Shultz entitled “Miss You”. Or is it? This song is actually a remixed version of a song by Southstarr entitled “Miss You”, which is a remix of the song “Jerk” by Oliver Tree. In essence, its a remix of a remix of an original where the remix-er of the remix was the composer of the non-remixed original. As a result we are left with a sort of Spiderman paradox where copyright holders are left pointing fingers at each other.
In July of 2020, Oliver Tree released “Jerk”. Some two years later, Southstarr in collaboration with Oliver Tree, released “Miss you”. Not even two months after this, Oliver Tree released his rendition of “Miss you”… or “Jerk? In a statement released by Southstarr he claims that he had received all publishing rights, “allowing me to release my reworked version of ‘Jerk’ called ‘Miss You’. And contrary to some rumours circulating online, I never sold this rework or my production.”[1] Producers such as Sony Music remark that Tree and Schulz’s version is “a 1:1 direct copy of Southstarr’s under the same name… demonstrating an attempt to take the credit and direct support away from Southstarr”[2]. But can this be considering the composer of the remix is by the composer of the original?
This situation brings into question notions of copyright, fair use, and the balancing public and copyright holder interests. Ideally, we would want to know the specifics of whatever licensing agreement exists, if there even is one. Regardless, one can still wonder about the implications of such a situation as a whole.
Is it appropriate to provide protections to Southstarr where the original owner is Tree. What is the solution where a substantial part of the work is part of Southlands work but also part of the original composers? Could this also constitute some sort of meta-parody or satire where the “humorous imitation” comes from the fact that it is a copy of a copy of the original. These are all issues which this situations gives rise to.
This case is also intriguing because it seems to blend together the interests set out in Theberge, that being, the desire to balance the interest of the public and the interest of the copyright owner. Southstarr, if their statements are true, may be a proper copyright holder and at the same time a member of the public seeking to protect the right to use a work under fair dealing. The same may be said of Tree. As Tik Tok user TheTom500 states: “how dare Oliver Tree remix a remix of his own song 🙁 🙁 “[3].
Who do you think is in the right?
For your interest, linked below are the three songs in release order:
(3) “Miss you” by Oliver Tree and Ribin Schulz
[2] Ibid
Communications Law