“On the other hand, if you’re caught on tape acting the way you did, I wouldn’t want anyone to see them either… so here’s a good solution. Apologize for your behavior and don’t act like that anymore. Pretty simple really.”
AMEN.

Remember Mr. Cheese. You’re only as great as your fans make you. Don’t shit on them, eh?

Legalities aside, you acted like an asshole. That’s clear. And that makes for good gossip. People like gossip. Just because you didn’t break anything or hurt anyone doesn’t make it okay. People are still going to perceive you as a jerk for the way you acted. You should’ve known better, being a “performer”. Shame on you.

Furthermore, join the technoligical revolution like everyone else already. You’re not going to get away from people recording and taking pictures of your show, and acting like a big baby about it isn’t going to help you sell tickets or CDs. Just ask Lars Ulrich.

If people post crappy cell phone videos on youtube of your performance (assuming it’s a good one), that encourages them to want to see you live, and pay you money and buy your CDs. Don’t you get it? The more videos on the internet there are, the more chances there are that people will see them and the more fans you could acquire… what’s up with the no photos? Nobody else minds. The fact that you do makes you look like a prima donna.

On the other hand, if you’re caught on tape acting the way you did, I wouldn’t want anyone to see them either… so here’s a good solution. Apologize for your behavior and don’t act like that anymore. Pretty simple really.

And to everyone else… can we please stop comparing Dick Cheese to Andy Kaufman? Seriously.

Mr. Cheese, as I said, I’ve never heard of you. And despite what was said to have happened in Vegas, I still would have been open to hearing your act. But after your rantings I’ve read here, you can….uhhh…. as they say – fugeddaboudit. From now on whenever I hear your name I’m going to automatically associate it with childish tit for tat boo hooing. So take your ball and go home. The rest of us have more fun people to play with.

Am I right, y’all? Say “AMEN”! LOL

I personally have never heard of this Cheese guy. And I just now ’stumble upon’ this page. So as a passer-by, I’m sitting back laughing and thinking “WTF?”

But give me a half a mo to try to straighten this all out.

All those in the entertainment industry know one of the most obvious rules of stardom… “All publicity, whether good or bad, is great for his/her career”. So regardless of Monsieur Fromage’s rantings about his rights being violated, he should be grateful for the attention! And if you can’t learn to laugh about yourself, you’ll end up in an early grave. Afterall, laughter IS the best medicine.

Rock on, y’all!

Never thought about it until I read it from you here.

And stupid it is from performers to behave like that.

What a short sight.

Keep up the good work.

Yeah, it’s not hard to get permission to play and record cover songs. Harry Fox and PRO’s like BMI and ASCAP have a pretty easy system to work with.

If someone wanted to come to my work and film me I would love it! It means someone is interested in me enough to film me. And if they then put that stuff all over the internet I would say GREAT! It means that there is more of a possibility of someone learning about me, and perhaps want to see more, they would almost assuredly come straight to the source, but perhaps not, but I would think my odds would be more in my favor the more I was plastered on the internet.

But no one is interested in me, or my two cents. That and 5 bucks will get you a cup of coffee (Don’t ya just love inflation?)

I must say the way you’ve handled this Dick Cheese is pretty poor. You’ve made your statements, I just need some clarification… In the interest of posterity.

Did you take someone’s Camera from their hands? Yes or No?
Did you toss it back to them? Yes or No?
Did you spit on another person filming you? Yes or No?

Those are pretty much the only points of interest I have on this issue… I guess those Yes/No answers could clear up a lot about what these people say about you… So how bout just some straight answers to clear this all up?

No one was assaulted.
There was no battery.
I didn’t “lay hands” on anyone.
No cameras were broken.
No property was damaged.
No one complained about anything during the performance.
No charged were pressed against me because nothing illegal occurred.

The individuals who violated my rights by filming my performance without authorization are the ones who started this, they’re the ones who created the problem, and they’re the ones to blame. I am the victim here.

Wanna know why I didn’t ask security to step in, if indeed “enforcing the rule should also logically fall on the venue”? Because there was no security presence at the venue.

Wanna know why I didn’t stop the show? Because I’m a professional and the show must go on.

“How do they know they really aren’t allowed to record if the venue didn’t step the the plate and announce it up front?”

Videotaping an entertainer who is performing copyrighted material is always illegal without express written permission.

“This is why they announce it before a theater performance, display it in the movie theater, etc. ”

And yes, as you just explained, everyone knows that.

I have never met a more immature bunch of disrespectful, selfish crybabies than the whiners who have blogged about this today.

Go look up “The Golden Rule” on the internets (sic). How would you like it if someone came to your workplace and started filming YOU at your desk, and if your polite pleas to stop were blatantly ignored? How would you like it if your copyrighted material was stolen and broadcast? How woud you like it if someone called you a “scumbag” just because you were trying to defend your civil rights?

Please do me a favor and stop listening to my music, and please tell all of your friends that I am awful, okay? Because I really really really don’t want any of you as my fans. You are disgusting, pathetic, sad people.

Goodbye.
RC

Edit: Annoying all-caps removed. Now now, Mr. Cheese, if you can’t type without shouting I’m going to have to give you a time-out.

No matter if you feel recording and posting part of the show online is GOOD for the performer, they have the right to demand that you respect copyright based on their contract with the venue. Period. This simply needs to be expressly stated at the beginning. This is why they announce it before a theater performance, display it in the movie theater, etc. Mr. Cheese looks like the jerk even more when HE has to state “you’re not allowed to record”. The venue should have said UP FRONT that this was the agreement, and most of this would have been resolved before it happened.

However, like what Chris said… what Mr. Cheese did could NEARLY be considered assault from a legal standpoint. Kind of a gray area, but he should have demanded that the venue take care of things instead of him getting in their face. Just like the announcement regarding the recording falls to the venue, enforcing the rule should also logically fall on the venue.

What’s really sad is that Brian’s reputation is what gets hurt here. Not only from the idiotic, rude, and totally unacceptable response from Cheese, but also from the unwilling “new media rebels” that think the rules don’t apply to them simply because they feel that “this is what they SHOULD be able to do.”

Of course… how do they know they really aren’t allowed to record if the venue didn’t step the the plate and ANNOUNCE IT UP FRONT?

Mr. Cheese is worried about copyright infringement because he assaulted someone. He spit on his fans and broke one guy’s camera with his “act”. This is a bit beyond lies and he said/everyone said.

Matthew as a performer is ALWAYS aware that cameras may be on and is very gracious about fans that want to record, so much that he allowed a couple of us to turn some into an album.

If you don’t feel like sharing that’s fine, just don’t assault people and don’t break things and please just announce beforehand that cameras aren’t allowed. After sometime organizing events, I’ve never had anyone deny my request that the rules be followed with a good explanation and civility.

http://is.gd/1MG7

I am a performer. I put on a show. At the Coverville500 concert, things did NOT happen the way they have been described; I am innocent, I stand by my actions, and while I would be happy to explain my side of the story, I sense that I will be shouted down regardless. In late September on richardcheese.com, I will post my own blog about this. Until then, below is a link to the only blog which came close to being fair, accurate, and, most importantly, civil.

http://mwgblog.com/archives/2008/08/20/cheese-v-cochrane-et-al-%E2%80%93-new-media-showdown/

If you don’t like me or my act or my show or my music, then don’t listen, don’t watch, and don’t stay. Just leave. You will not be missed.

There were plenty of people at Friday’s performance who LOVED the show, who STAYED for the whole thing, who GOT the joke, and who kindly gave me and my band a nice ovation of applause and calls for encores. None of THOSE people committed felony copyright infringement, and we are grateful to them for their support. Those people are my true fans.

The rest of you can go ahead and continue to call me names and spread lies and make libelous accusations and infringe my copyrights and violate my civil rights and complain that I’m just an awful person. Have fun with that!

I’m done talking about this. All other comments, blogs, videos, and emails will be summarily ignored until September. And, if you distribute any unauthorized recordings of me or my band, my attorney will spit a lawsuit on you.

Adios,

RC

http://eventsmedia.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-and-takeaways-of-new-media-expo.html

If thats ok with you matthew….

m

BUT -I did laugh my ass off watching him though. Crude but funny. He took me by surprise. I wouldn’t hire him but I would go see him again. He is a comedy act.

As for the New Media Expo it was the best one I have been to yet. I encourage you to go to the next one.
here is my recap. www.

Also see: Average Samaritan
Edit: That URL is way, way too long, so I shortened it with a link. -ME

I will repeat my comment here:

It is such a shame that the excellent party that Coverville threw at the NME in Vegas had to end as it did. Your account and analysis is appropriate and the actions of named performer – an incredibly unfortunate and inappropriate experience for many people.

There are a number of things I do not understand. If there was a valid reason the performance should not be recorded (other than ego) – Why didn’t Richard Cheese address the crowd with civility and simply say that the show should/could not be recorded and why? Particularly because cameras were involved – why was the response a nasty haphazard tantrum? If the behaviour of the crowd and the organizers was such an offensive violation – why not just walk off and spare us all?

I wasn’t at the party for Richard Cheese and could have left a ticket/merch/cd buying fan. Instead, I found myself among friends who were all but physically attacked by this guy. Luckily tech nerds are a fairly rational crowd and didn’t turn it into a brawl. I didn’t understand/believe that someone performing for a media-related crowd would act Amish… and so I tested the scenario myself about 15 minutes in. I stood against the front of the stage, at times resting my camera on a hand rail in plain sight of Mr. Cheese and the band. I captured nearly 20 minutes of video. There is no complaining or bitching in my video – just what could have been perceived a decent performance. R. Cheese looked directly at me a number of times and even threw me a pair of thong underwear from the stage.

I wondered if maybe the whole unfortunate opening was part of his act until I heard through the grapevine that his tantrum continues by way of threatening legal action via email and ordering videos be removed from the web.

Dear Richard Cheese,

If you know where and who to target your demands of video removal, it is clear that you or your lawyer is following this lil debacle.

I implore you to respond publicly. What is your side of the story?

We’re a reasonable bunch and I think it is only fair for you to have your say.

Until then, I remain a bit baffled.

Sincerely,
Miss Something

—————————-
10. I’ve agreed to this, but it should be noted here for anyone else who may have recorded any of Richard Cheese’s performance. From his contract:

“In accordance with our agreement, none of the audio or video from our Las Vegas performance may be used for any purpose without our express written advance permission. So, don’t use anything from our show in your podcast, website, or in any other context.”
—————————-

And also discussed in the comments:

“In defense of Richard Cheese, he has always been generous enough to let me play music from his studio releases on the show. However, his live performances add an extra layer that would lose something if not seen live.”

and

“And don’t be too hard on Richard Cheese. He came here, put on a great show, and simply reminded me of part of his contract which I agreed to at the beginning.”

Now, he has a right to excuse the actions of Cheese, but the fans have a right not to.