“We Hate Pop Country” Exploiting Country Legends By Illegally Selling Unauthorized Merchandise
Like many Facebook “like” pages devoted to a common cause, the Facebook page called “We Hate Pop Country” has accumulated quite a few “likes” over the last few years by selling T-shirts and then taking the money to help promote their Facebook posts that mainly consist of memes mocking today’s country stars. But unfortunately over the last several weeks, the site has resorted to selling T-shirts using the likeness of numerous country music legends including Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Conway Twitty without any authorization from the estates of the artists, and none of the proceeds going to the artists or heirs who are the rightful owners of all personality rights. This practice is both illegal, and disrespectful to the very artists We Hate Pop Country purports to want to help support.
Saving Country Music reached out to the respective estates and managers of the artists affected to confirm use of the likeness was unauthorized, and that the artists were receiving no money. “This product is not authorized at all,” says Kirk West, the Business Manager for the George Jones Estate. “They need to remove this product and never use George Jones name again or I will sue them.”
Making the sales even more spurious, We Hate Pop Country will post links on Facebook to the t-shirt postings on Teespring.com with lots of verbiage about how they’re trying to support their “everlasting efforts of promoting emerging country performers of the modern Americana roots music movement,” yet will only leave the Facebook posts up for a few hours, tasking Facebook users to “Hurry! Ordering will only be available for so long…” and removing the postings after a couple of hours before too much suspicion is aroused.
As Chron explains about using celebrity images on T-shirts:
Celebrities who claim their right of privacy can sue to prevent businesses from printing their image on T-shirts without permission. Businesses that legally print celebrity images on promotional items usually have contracts that outline the parameters for using those images, along with any compensation the celebrity is entitled to receive. The right of publicity also limits the use of celebrity images on T-shirts. This right recognizes people’s economic value in relation to their work and creativity. Celebrities have the right to exploit the value of their likeness as they see fit, so the unauthorized use of a celebrity’s image violates his right of publicity. Celebrities who sue companies for using their image without authorization can prevail by proving that their image has commercial value.
These rights also extend to deceased individuals, with the rights being retained by the estates.
Printing images of deceased celebrities on T-shirts without permission may be prohibited if the right of publicity continues following a celebrity’s death. Tennessee, for example, recognizes that celebrities can pass their right of publicity to their surviving relatives. Tennessee was singer Elvis Presley’s home … relatives and others who handle Presley’s estate have control over merchandise bearing his name and image. In California, people handling Marilyn Monroe’s estate acquired the right to use her name and image on merchandise by extending the right of publicity after her death.
Furthermore, We Hate Pop Country admits it is not compensating the estates of these country legends for the use of their likeness because in their Facebook posts they specifically state, “All of the proceeds help to ensure that the official We Hate Pop Country community may continue to both grow, and thrive…”
Using celebrity images to specifically help promote the We Hate Pop Country brand could also lead to further legal issues. By using a celebrity’s likeness on a shirt that also promotes We Hate Pop Country (all shirts but one say “We Hate Pop Country and the URL to their website on the back), it insinuates to the public that the celebrity endorses We Hate Pop Country, when no such authorized endorsement has occurred.
Like many of We Hate Pop Country’s postings and practices, when Facebook users have questioned the legality of the T-shirts, We Hate Pop Country has censored their comments, blocked them from their page, and even used threats and intimidation, including gang reporting Facebook users as spam accounts to get them either locked out of their accounts, or have their accounts deleted.
Saving Country Music reached out to Teespring.com about the unauthorized and illegal T-shirt postings, and they have not responded, or removed the postings. However their policy clearly states that We Hate Pop Country’s postings are wrong, and sellers cannot use “an individual’s name or likeness without their permission.” Teespring’s policy states:
Right of publicity is the right of famous people to control the commercial use of their name or likeness. So Taylor Swift has the right to decide whether her name or face will appear in a product advertisement. Right of publicity is really a subset of the larger right of privacy that applies to all people. In the context of marketing and merchandise, that means each person is entitled to control the use of their name and image in a commercial context. In keeping with right of publicity and privacy laws, Teespring will not be able to print shirts that include the name or likeness of any individual, including celebrities, unless we are instructed otherwise by the individual or their agent.
We Hate Pop Country’s illegal T-shirts come as country artist are being exploited more than ever with unauthorized use of their likeness and intellectual property. Earlier this month Kacey Musgraves exposed the sale of items quoting her lyrics, and Ray Wylie Hubbard has also been a victim of unauthorized merchandise recently.
Below are screenshots of We Hate Pop Country’s Facebook postings, and the T-shirt listings on Teespring. To see the full verbiage from the Facebook postings, see the bottom of this post.
We Hate Pop Country’s Form Post for T-Shirt Postings
It truly comes as no surprise that today’s mainstream country music circuit panders to the absolute lowest common denominator with embarrassingly stale, wore-out, laundry list lyricism of lifted pick up trucks, dirt roads, daisy dukes, and any other stereotypical clichés pertaining to the country, and southern lifestyles that you can think of. This is brought to life through mediocre, rap styled vocalization, and then layered with an electronic dance beat in a blatant, and corporate, over-commercialization of a once utterly profound musical genre in an attempt to attract outside audiences that would never listen to country music, and therefor, couldn’t care less about the rich history, nor the evolutionary course of its very future. To correct a problem, you must first acknowledge that there is one, which is preciously what the WHPC web outlets have successfully aided thousands of die hard fans in doing. Though we may inevitably ruffle a few feathers in the process of doing so, we vouch to never back down in this fight for true sincerity to again return to the mainstream country music format.
If you enjoy what it is that we have to offer, then we would like to now ask that you please consider picking up one of these fantastic products. All of the proceeds help to ensure that the official We Hate Pop Country community may continue to both grow, and thrive during our everlasting efforts of promoting emerging country performers of the modern Americana roots music movement over at the wehatepopcountry.com webpage, while reflecting on the legendary pioneers that have paved the way, as we humorously weigh in on today’s mediocre mainstream “country” music circuit through comical daily memes here on Facebook.
For a short time, you can get this stylish, limited edition design on both long or short sleeve t-shirts, and sweatshirts, as well as relax women’s fit T’s in sizes SMALL through 5XL while limited supplies last. But hurry! Ordering will only be available for so long. Be sure to claim yours today while you still can by simply following this link!
February 23, 2016 @ 7:28 pm
Folks, I’m just going to respond to this concern once because I’m sure it will come up:
You’re just jealous of We Hate Pop Country because they have more “likes” on Facebook than you.
I am not “attacking” We Hate Pop Country, I am defending country legends from We Hate Pop Country selling T-shirt’s illegally as I would do to any website or entity engaging in this practice. Saving Country Music operated for half a decade without a Facebook “like” page, and even now only posts three, maybe four articles on the Facebook “like” page per week when the website publishes an average of 15 articles a week. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t even have a Facebook “like” page. It is only there because so many others had set up impostor Facebook “like” pages using Saving Country Music’s trademarks. Sure, it would be nice to have more “likes” and I appreciate everyone who does “like” the Saving Country Music page. But Saving Country Music has proved many times over the ability to launch viral events specifically on Facebook regardless of the “like” inventory. 4,000, 14,000, or 400,000 “likes,” it doesn’t matter when you have quality content. And Facebook is just one of many satellite properties that Saving Country Music uses to reach readers. This post is notan attempt to destroy We Hate Pop Country or anything of the sort. It’s an attempt to get them and others to stop selling unauthorized merchandise since repeated attempts by other Facebook users to stop the unauthorized sales have been ignored, blocked, and censored by We Hate Pop Country.
And don’t tell me this has no place on Saving Country Music and I would spend my time better promoting a band. This issue is at the very heart of Saving Country Music and it’s utmost founding charge: protecting artists from those who would take advantage of them. This is not Saving Country Music vs. We Hate Pop Country. This is We Hate Pop Country vs. the estates of country music legends and their intellectual property rights.
February 23, 2016 @ 8:18 pm
You really need to move your mission statement from the bottom of the page where it is rarely read to the top. It may help weed out some of these repetitive agumentory comments (mainly from people who tend to skim through your articles and take from it what they want) we tend to see you have to deal with on a daily basis. ButBut anyway, thanks for what you do to help improve the state of country music today!
February 23, 2016 @ 8:21 pm
Keep fighting the good fight.
February 23, 2016 @ 8:55 pm
I may be wrong on this, but apart from this “We Hate Pop Country” thing being exploitative of country legends, many of whom are no longer alive to defend themselves, just their executors and the like, I really have to wonder if this ploy won’t at some point boomerang against its creators. What if what they’re doing only serves to revive the popularity of the half-assed rap/hip-hop clichés of bro-country just as it appears that whole toxic sludge is starting to disappear?
Something to consider, in my opinion.
February 23, 2016 @ 7:35 pm
Yeah, I’ve noticed this too and their latest Conway Twitty “Mike Hunt” meme is a bit much and pretty disrespectful. They will probably get the axe from me pretty soon.
February 24, 2016 @ 7:53 am
I laughed out loud to that meme.
February 23, 2016 @ 7:46 pm
I’ll admit, I bought the “Mama Tried” shirt cause it was awesome, however I did not know that these were unauthorized. Now that I know that, I probably wouldn’t have bought it. Thanks for pointing this out Trig!
February 23, 2016 @ 7:58 pm
Trigger I’ll tell you right now WHPC is going to crash and burn so hard and it’s going to be devastating. They have a possey (sheep/sheople) and a anti pop-country kingdom going for them right now but soon it’ll all come to pass, luckily I only bought one t shirt from them and it wasn’t one that had an artist on the front of it and I’m glad I stopped right there and bought no more
February 23, 2016 @ 8:57 pm
Hey, in the 1st paragraph, you said “Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Merle Haggard.” I think you meant to say “Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Conway Twitty.”
February 23, 2016 @ 9:38 pm
I used to think WHPC was funny, but it wore thin really quick. All their memes are practically the same, so they’re pretty much as laundry-list as the crappy bro country singers, just from the other side. And some of their memes truly get too personally offensive to the “singers” they’re trashing. I mean, I think Luke Bryan’s music absolutely stinks, but I’m sure he’s a decent enough person.
FTM has way funnier, more clever memes.
February 23, 2016 @ 9:56 pm
This is a shame to hear. I’ve been meaning to purchase some stuff from them for a while. Now I definitely will not. On the other hand if you’re interested in clothing like this the official Waylon estate has a very nice online store with alotta cool stuff.
February 23, 2016 @ 11:37 pm
If you want to show your love and support for artists, buy directly from them. There’s absolutely no need to be giving money to a middle man. The money spent on these shirts isn’t going to the artists on the front of the shirt, it is going directly to Facebook to pay to promote their Facebook page and feed their insatiable appetite for “likes.” Facebook has plenty of money. Don’t give your money to someone like We Hate Pop Country, give it to the artists directly.
February 24, 2016 @ 8:25 am
I’ve purchased a few tees stickers etc. From the legit Waylon store I will definitely continue that way going forward. At least until/if I can see someone live and buy merch there.
February 23, 2016 @ 9:58 pm
I have become pretty suspicious of their page when I started seeing the shirts for sale. Thanks for staying on top of this and pointing it out trig.
February 23, 2016 @ 10:04 pm
“…pertaining to country and southern lifestyle…”
Really? Are there honestly people out there who think the south is any more backwoods/country than the Midwest? Shame on We Hate Pop Country. I liked the page a long time ago but I’ve never closely studied it–the memes are often hilarious, but also tend to be sexist every now and then. It’s always been a bit of a double-edged sword. One post could be funny and worthwhile, the next could be sexist and stupid, such as “LUKE BRYAN…NEVER HEARD OF HER” and other dumb shit like that.
February 24, 2016 @ 2:07 am
Northern Wisco/Upper Michigan are just as country as the south.
February 24, 2016 @ 2:14 am
The South has nothing on Northern Wisconsin and the U.P. as far as being backwoods/country goes.
February 24, 2016 @ 8:09 am
You should see the Dakotas. It’s insane. Lots of dumb hicks but plenty of educated country folks, too
February 23, 2016 @ 10:05 pm
About 1 1/2 hours after I posted this article, they posted yet another, new listing for a George Jones shirt.
February 23, 2016 @ 10:42 pm
Last night to order!
I hope selling a few more tshirts is worth getting sued several times over…not a good look
February 23, 2016 @ 11:39 pm
Yep, they said that it was the last night Monday night too, and here it is. So smarmy, shell game, used car salesman bait and switch, and the merchandise is in violation of intellectual property laws. Why anyone thinks this is okay is beyond me.
February 24, 2016 @ 10:04 am
What exactly do they purport to do to improve the state of country music? All they seem to do is complain about the status quo and sell T-shirts. How does that help improve anything aside from their bank balance?
February 23, 2016 @ 11:44 pm
Yet another post at midnight Central time:
February 24, 2016 @ 3:41 am
One can only hope it is THE last night~ ever~ to order… Anything…
And that the ghosts of GJ, CT, et al., haunt them till their own dying days…
February 24, 2016 @ 6:08 am
Come on…only sizes small through 5XL. Where are the XLTs for the tall lengthy individual such as myself? Obviously joking in this case but it does suck. I would typically wear band/artist/label shirts if they would actually make something that fits me. I still buy to support but the shirts are doomed to live out their life as undershirts. Take note merch people! Please…XLT!
February 24, 2016 @ 11:27 am
As a tall individual as well, I agree completely. Sometimes I can find an XL with somewhat longer sleeves or XXL that isn’t too baggy but I have bought a number of T-Shirts that never see the light of day.
February 24, 2016 @ 6:09 am
Glad to see you are getting some revenue streams on here! I keep clicking the Buy Now link and it’s not working though. Can you get Lil Dale a Possum t-shirt in a size 5XL? I’ve got my pre-paid Visa all ready (can’t be too careful these days!).
February 24, 2016 @ 6:22 am
Look, I love those guys, and I love Farce the Music too (I’ve reposted quite a bit of their work myself)
But this is just disgraceful. I haven’t bought any of their shirts, and reading this I don’t plan too.
Such a shame that WHPC is one of the last crusaders against Nashville right now. I can’t think of any other mainstream outlet than enjoys high traffic that is consistently fighting for the quality of the music. And yeah, this site is leaps and bounds ahead of them in terms of quality, and Farce offers a whole lot more than just insulting memes, but in terms of widespread effect, WHPC probably sees its posts viewed by wider artists.
Kudos to you bossman for posting this.
February 24, 2016 @ 10:14 am
Look, even though a lot of folks are trying to make this out like I am against We Hate Pop Country is doing, I am not. My problem is with the fact that they are selling illegal and unauthorized merchandise, and this is taking money directly out of the pockets of country legends and their estates.
By make no mistake about it, We Hate Pop Country is not a mainstream outlet. They are not an “outlet” at all. They are a Facebook “like” page that also has a website that hasn’t been updated in 23 days. I’m not saying that to diminish what they do, or how many people they can reach. But there is a massive difference between having a legitimate outlet that is a player in the commercial and intellectual marketplace, and having a Facebook page that resorts to selling illegal, bootleg merchandise to generate revenue to feed their insatiable appetite for “likes.” The who point of this is to rack up as many “likes” as possible to make people think that they’re bigger than they are.
Facebook is only one aspect of the internet. It is an important one no doubt, but it is far from the alpha and omega. I don’t like to talk about numbers, or brag about how many folks Saving Country Music reaches. But what I can tell you is that I know what the numbers are, on and off of Facebook, and Saving Country Music and sites like it have a dramatically larger footprint than a Facebook page like We Hate Pop Country. The reason is the majority of the unique traffic on the internet is still driven by search engines such as Google. Then you have Twitter, and other traffic generators like Fark and Reddit. The whole reason We Hate Pop Country has to sell illegal t-shirts is because they have to continue to increase the “likes” they have to continue the ruse. But it’s BECAUSE they pay for likes that their reach, impact, and influence is marginal. As insane as it may sound to you, Saving Country Music reaches just as many UNIQUE individuals on Facebook per month as Saving Country Music does. How? Because Saving Country Music has NEVER purchased “likes.”
I would STRONGLY encourage everyone to go and watch this video. Basically, the whole culture of Facebook “likes” is a facade.
February 24, 2016 @ 10:27 am
I guess my word choice was poor. I’m not implying that they are admirable or anything, but a lot of folks enjoy what they do, and the memes reach a pretty big audience. (less so now that Facebook specifically sets out to show people only things they agree with.)
I watched the video. That is some shady practice, but Virtual Bagels sounds like a pretty absurd scam, not too far removed from Albert’s pet rock story.
Is the click farming any way related to the Kane Brown scenario, with all the fake numbers?
February 24, 2016 @ 10:36 am
The point is not about the bagel site. The most important point from the videos is that when you pay for likes, there’s actually LESS real people seeing and interacting with your content. That is how a page with 14,500 likes like Saving Country Music’s, can reach just as many, if not more people than a page with 350,000 “likes.” ORGANIC likes, meaning people who by their force of their own will like a page, are way more valuable than paid likes because those people are real, and truly engaged with your approach and message.
Again, I’m not saying We Hate Pop Country isn’t resonating with folks. I’m just saying that you can’t judge the impact of ANY entity on Facebook, by the number of “likes” they have.
And yes, this also dovetails into the the Kane Brown situation, but that’s another story . . .
February 24, 2016 @ 7:37 am
I personally have never heard of them. I do like some of the shirts though. I just wish they would do it the right way.
February 24, 2016 @ 9:22 am
Those shirts are really unimaginative, shame on anyone for buying one. “Mama tried” ooooooh how original! Get permission, step up your game, amd lose the url on the back.
February 24, 2016 @ 9:47 am
These pages do not help spread the Country Music.
Criticize what we do not like is not publicizing and supporting style.
Where are the reviews of bands that are emerging? Where is the release of the new album? I’ve never seen!
Me mirror in Saving Country Music to keep my site in Brazil.
I show to my readers what’s new in the Country Music, and avoid criticizing those who do not like.
And I’m sorry for bad English!
February 24, 2016 @ 4:19 pm
Sigh….
If you don’t know why this article is here then read the mission statement at the bottom.
That’s all
February 24, 2016 @ 4:22 pm
I think Filipi is talking about We Hate Pop Country.
February 24, 2016 @ 4:35 pm
Oh, I apologize then. I misunderstood his words.
February 25, 2016 @ 4:47 am
It’s about We Hate Pop Country.
Blame it on bad English 🙂
February 24, 2016 @ 9:49 am
Like you’re one who should be calling someone out. You’re the same guy who was blatantly trying to capitalize off of a guy’s death last year. You’ve turned a website with a good idea into a tabloid.
February 24, 2016 @ 10:22 am
I just want to point out to anyone who is defending We Hate Pop Country in this matter is defending selling illegal merchandise that the estates of George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Conway Twitty are strongly against.
People can try and make this about me all they want. They can bring up my Jon Hensley coverage, which I stand behind 100%. They can bring up how I have ads on my site, or that I wrote a Corning Ware book, or that I don’t know who Vern Gosdin is (which is another ridiculous misnomer). There was even a group of people out there this morning attacking me because I wrote this article, but didn’t cover the death of Sonny James. The problem was though, I did cover the death of Sonny James. I was one of the first outlets to do so. It was another uninformed lie.
You can smear me all you want. But that doesn’t change the fact that We Hate Pop Country is ripping off country legends. Don’t take my word for it, read what the estates are saying. Reach out to them and confirm that they are against We Hate Pop Country selling this illegal merchandise.
Frankly, I find it extremely troubling that we have an outlet out there stealing from country legends, and the villain in this situation is me. It’s Saving Country Music. This is the EXACT play that happened during the Jon Hensley situation, and it worked too. Because popularity of Facebook is seductive on the weak of mind.
You want to think I’m making too much of this? Best of luck to you. I’ll see you in court when We Hate Pop Country and Teesping are getting sued.
February 25, 2016 @ 8:32 pm
Wait.
Did you really write a Corning Ware book?
If so, you got to give us the back story on that.
February 25, 2016 @ 9:50 pm
As many people know or don’t know about me personally, before I started Saving Country Music, I worked as an antique and collectible dealer, selling stuff on eBay, conducting estate sales and appraisals, and doing other elderly advocacy work. For the first 6 1/2 years that I ran Saving Country Music, I was doing this same work while operating the website. For many years, I’ve also been a professional freelance writer. I wrote for local newspapers and magazines. I wrote for “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.” Three years before I started Free Hank III, I decided to try and combine my two passions of cool old things and writing, and wrote a collector book. And despite some morons thinking for some reason I should be ashamed of it, it might be my most proud achievement: writing and publishing a successful book and selling thousands of copies. I guess some think I should be embarrassed by this, maybe because they think the subject matter is effeminate or something, but I saw a need in the market and filled it. And from becoming a published author, and having written a book on a vintage commodity, it helped cement my stature in both my career pursuits. I dedicated it to my mother. It was a really proud moment for me. And for folks to bring it up as somehow a discredit of my character proves the depravity of THEIR character and their ignorance in just what it takes to pull off something like publishing a commercially successful book. Some I guess think it proves that I don’t know anything about country music, because instead I wrote a book about Corning Ware. I WROTE IT 12 YEARS AGO. Bringing up a Corning Ware book, which was one of the crowning achievements of my writing career so far as some sort of attack, shows just how desperate folks are to smear me to attempt to deflect blame for their own lies and misdeeds. The fact that I was able to write and publish a book proves my writing acumen, my dedication, and my abilities with research and facts.
I’m peacock proud of my book, and if some folks think it’s silly, they can go fuck themselves.
February 28, 2016 @ 1:49 pm
So people who write memes are making fun of you for writing and getting book published. That’s pretty funny.
May 27, 2016 @ 8:57 am
Ok this is several months late but how the hell did I miss that you wrote for Bathroom Reader?!? That’s freaking awesome! Totally enjoy that series! I have quite a few Bathroom Readers on my bookshelves and by few I mean a lot lol and there is more I yet to buy that I definitely want to get, I really like that series.
Now I’m kinda wanting to know if you were the one that wrote some of the stuff in Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music lol like the Waylon Jennings stuff or something.
Sorry for nerding out lol,
And that is cool you got a book published, that is always cool in general.
May 27, 2016 @ 10:02 am
I haven’t written for The Bathroom Reader in years, but I did write a few stories for the “Plunges Into Music” edition. I can’t remember if I wrote any Waylon stuff for that. Oh wait, I do think I may have written about how he was on the Buddy Holly plane, if not for that book then for another.
February 25, 2016 @ 8:45 pm
Trig,
I’m a huge fan and love what you do for country music, so I’m not out to get you, but you totally said yourself that you’d never heard of Vern Gosdin.
“I hate to admit it, but I had never heard of this guy until I heard about his death.”
https://savingcountrymusic.com/%E2%80%9Cthe-voice%E2%80%9D-vern-gosdin-dead-at-74/
February 25, 2016 @ 9:37 pm
Joshua R.,
I have said much of the stuff I wrote on Saving Country Music, or more accurately Free Hank III when I started this blog nearly nine years ago, is garbage writing, and has little to no value, except for the fact that eventually Free Hank III did help get Hank III’s albums released, and out of his Curb Records contract. But I leave every single article I have ever written up, and every comment, because it is part of the fabric of this website, and I don’t try to hide anything. I have written 4000 articles on this site. 4000 ARTICLES. That is an encyclopedia collection’s worth of material. 4000 articles, and the only thing that people are pointing to that I have written was a COMMENT I wrote in 2009, BEFORE Saving Country Music was launched (this was a Free Hank III article, mind you), and was me being honest with my readers. I have never said I didn’t say it, and I’ve never made an effort to remove it, though it would take seconds to do so. 4000 articles, and this is what they’ve got. A COMMENT, not even an article. However, it is a LIE when people say today that I do not know who Vern Gosdin is. If you point to this COMMENT, left in May of 2009, then it PROVES that I DO know who Vern Gosdin is today, because it cements and proves my moment of discovery. So saying, “He doesn’t even know who Vern Gosdin is,” ESPECIALLY if you reference that comment, proves that your statement is a lie.
Now, what does any of this have to do with We Hate Pop Country illegally selling t-shirts? JACK FUCKING SHIT. Even with all the smut and embarrassing material one may find in the vast, 4000-article archives of Saving Country Music, there’s nothing that comes even close to the absolute abhorrent practice of selling illegal t-shirts of country legends, pocketing 100% of the money, telling people it is non-profit while also saying you operate an LLC, lying to people by saying it is the “last night” of a listing when you post it on subsequent nights, and then trying to personally smear anyone and everyone that calls you into question.
People are outraged that I didn’t know who Vern Gosdin was seven years ago? How about being outraged that country music legends are getting taken advantage of by assholes looking to turn those profits into more Facebook likes to feed their insatiable online appetites for attention? Seven years ago, if this had happened, there would be MASSIVE outrage on a grand scale, and We Hate Pop Country would have been shamed off the internet. Today? People are too worried about the public perception of their Facebook personas, and how the wind may blow in the “scene” to even give someone trying to fight for country legends a “like.” In fact, for everyone who has liked or shared my post about this egregious fleecing of country legends, there’s been ten to bitch that I must be lying because 1) I don’t know who Vern Gosdin is 2) Because I wrote a Corning Ware book three years before I even started Free Hank III 3) Because I’m a juggalo, which is bullshit, or because Joshua Morningstar punked me at the Wayne Mills trial, or whatever other bullshit people are saying.
The reason folks are saying this stuff is because what We Hate Pop Country did was INDEFENSIBLE. So to save their public personas, they attack me. And the sad part is, it worked.
But I accomplished my goal. The t-shirts are down, and the estates are appreciative, and I know this because I am in contact with them. But We Hate Pop Country has grown stronger over this. Why? Because they appeal to the stove-headed moronic masses who love to “HATE” (that’s why it’s in their name), and they will say or do whatever they must to ensure themselves that they’re better than everyone else, instead of being honest and searching for truth, and trying to better themselves as people.
Does that answer your question?
February 24, 2016 @ 11:03 am
Glad to see you mentioned this. There are several of these scams going around. There is another selling T-Shirts saying “I don’t need Therapy I just need to listen to….John Prine, Ray Wylie Hubbard, etc”. They also include the artist likeness.
RWH has specifically tweeted that these are unlicensed.
February 24, 2016 @ 11:05 am
Protecting Trademarks and personal Image/Photo Rights are, unfortunately, VERY expensive to enforce in Court.
And, as I understand the Law, a Rights Holder must confront each and every Violation, simply to maintain and keep ownership of the Rights of Trademark or Image.
That’s why Disney, Pepsi, and others spend such large sums fighting Trademark Infringements. They have no choice. Otherwise they could potentially lose their Rights altogether.
Bummer that what you Own is always up for grabs.
February 24, 2016 @ 12:19 pm
The obvious ethical transgressions of their T-shirt sales practice aside, I’ve just always found We Hate Pop Country to be a puerile and regressive site without any real backbone behind it.
We already have Old Farts & Jackasses at north of 291,000 “Likes” and counting: which actually spends more time on the positive sharing and engendering conversation on traditional country favorites both old and current. We already have Farce The Music hitting that fine line between the often puerile but sometimes witty pitchforking of shallow songs and entertainers passing off as “country”, and the showcasing of great music out there across multiple genres. Why exactly do we need We Hate Pop Country?
I know you said in your disclaimer your intention is not to assassinate the character of everyone who resembles We Hate Pop Country, and I’m glad you made that emphatically clear. I’m just questioning why We Hate Pop Country even needs to exist when the vacuum is already filled with more quality communities exposing the worst and celebrating the best.
February 24, 2016 @ 4:01 pm
Well, what about their side (WHPC) of the story? Seems like an attack piece and while its going to be pretty hard to justify their behavior, I think I would at least like to know they were contacted or at least failed to respond.
February 24, 2016 @ 5:19 pm
There is no other side of the story unless they present clear permission to use the artist’s trademark. Beyond that, it is unauthorized use and they deserve to get their asses sued.
February 24, 2016 @ 6:24 pm
I contacted the respective estates involved to make sure that the sales were unauthorized. I even included a quote from Kirk West, who is the manager of the George Jones estate. We Hate Pop Country in their own statements say that “ALL” of the proceeds go to themselves. There is nothing to discuss. These sales are illegal. Even We Hate Pop Country is saying in various communications that they are going to work to obtain permissions from these estates, admitting they don’t have them (and trust me, they won’t receive them), which we already knew.
I am absolutely shocked, and it makes me fear for the future of human civilization that somehow I am the one who has to answer what is such a clear violation of intellectual property laws instead of We Hate Pop Country. By far, I have felt way more heat over this matter than they have. Granted, I knew that it would be this way going in, but I knew what was right, and did it anyway. Nonetheless…
Years ago if something like this was brought to light and multiple country music legends were being taken advantage of, there would be outrage across the board, and thousands of people joining together to get these listings removed, and admonishing the people responsible. Today? It’s all cast off as a beef between Saving Country Music and We Hate Pop Country. Frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach that nobody gives a shit anymore about this kind of stuff. I’m the bad guy here. Saving Country Music is the bad guy. That’s the kind of cultural depravity that pervades the Facebook culture as people look to optimize the popularity of their online persona.
Everybody knows what We Hate Pop Country did was wrong. They’re just worried which way the wind might blow on Facebook in the ever-present popularity contest, and don’t want to be on the wrong side.
Funny that when Saving Country Music called out Brantley Gilbert for claiming to make a $10 million donation, or Billboard for excluding Green River Ordinance from the country charts, or the management and label of Katie Arminger recently—things that all happened in the last few months—not a single word was uttered about “personal attacks.” But since it’s an entity that people have enjoyed in their own Facebook feeds, they refuse to see the obvious truth, or act upon it.
Luckily, the law doesn’t worry about popularity.
February 25, 2016 @ 8:07 am
“…. I am absolutely shocked, and it makes me fear for the future of human civilization that somehow I am the one who has to answer what is such a clear violation of intellectual property laws instead of We Hate Pop Country. By far, I have felt way more heat over this matter than they have.”
It’s the Shoot The Messenger mentality. Don’t let them get to you. Ya done good. 🙂
February 25, 2016 @ 9:08 am
I’m not on FB, nor do I care about the popularity issue – but this article is an attack piece…. which is fine. Its essentially “these guys did this!”… if you want to run that piece, run the whole side of the story. I’m not taking their side by any means, like I said it sounds hard to justify. I want to hear what they have to say, why they did the things they did from their own words… and more importantly do we know what Jason Isbell thinks about all this?
February 25, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Jason Isbell? I guess I’m missing the inside joke.
In cases like this, there is no need to talk to the other side. It’s like negotiating with terrorists. This is so clearly egregiously wrong there’s nothing to discuss and no explanation that would be valid. But here, here is a statement from them where they promise to get permission from the estates in arrears (which they won’t receive), admitting they didn’t have permission (which we already knew from the estates), and lying that they has some arrangement with Teespring, who by the way, I am in contact with. They also say that the WILL obtain permission from the Waylon estate (meaning they don’t have it), and how these are “non-profit” sales, while also saying they run an LLC, which by law is a for-profit company.
If as they say, they would have told me they are “informing ourselves of the legality of our official merchandising”, (and there’s nothing ‘official’ about because it is unauthorized), all this would have been is been further validation that they didn’t have permission. Basically, We Hate Pop Country expects their future intentions (if they ever follow through with them) to somehow absolve them of their current and past wrongdoing.
Also, and most importantly: THE REASON I DID NOT REACH OUT TO THEM IS BECAUSE NUMEROUS PEOPLE HAD REACHED OUT TO THEM BEFORE, LEFT COMMENTS ON THESE POSTS, ATTEMPTED TO REPORT THEIR LISTINGS, and all of this information had been ignored, censored, or met with anger. Only through public pressure were these listings able to be stopped. That is why it was essential to get the raw information out there in this manner. It worked, and I would do nothing differently in the future. We Hate Pop Country has a right to respond however they wish on their forums. Also, this story is not done, and I may include We Hate Pop Country’s responses in future posts.
HERE’S THEIR RESPONSE to one individual (not to be taken as an official response):
“We were made aware of the article published by Kyle Coroneos yesterday evening, and while it is flattering that he would take the time to write such a detailed message in regards to non-profit sales, it remains as mostly false criticism. Irresponsible journalism has become a key issue in recent times, with the talking points of the current Presidential race being proof to this. We’re just two normal people who work two regular physical labor intensive jobs. We aren’t an empire. We aren’t a corporation. We aren’t a fancy high rise in the Nashville skyline, ultimately making this villain-themed drivel utterly comical in itself.
If Kyle had actually come to us just as any other professional editorial has done in the past, he would be aware of the fact that we are currently informing ourselves of the legality of our official merchandising, with our first official licensing being provided through the Waylon Jennings estate, which is to be approved within the very near future. But that’s what separates the journalists from the bloggers, I suppose.
That said, every artist featured in our previous campaigns will be reimbursed, as properly negotiated with various heads of estate, which is why the head of our apparel production at Teespring grants us the ability to feature such merchandise without suspension. As for our advertisement, posts are removed upon each campaign reaching their set goal of 3, which roughly translates into $21 dollars in U.S. currency. Advertisement banners are then removed from the site, as the campaign becomes utterly inactive with no new orders being available, as each of these campaigns happen to be crowdfunded, which explains why they’re only available for a short time. Very soon, all of our advertisement will feature an “Official Licensed Apparel” stamp upon the launch of our online store in the coming weeks, with this tabloid click-bait only encouraging us to further speed up the process.
As you can see, there is nothing “suspicious” taking place here, as we have been offering official Honky Tonk Apparel Brandâ„¢ merchandise for the better part of 3 years now as a LLC., which leads me to believe that Trigger’s sudden article just translates into a slow news day for his blog. We have considered offering an official statement via wehatepopcountry.com to simply clear the air, but do not wish to aid in traffic to an already dying relic.
Have a great day, and as always, thanks for your support!”
February 25, 2016 @ 10:37 am
Basically, if I had contacted We Hate Pop Country, they would have told me to fuck off like they had told everyone else, chided me for the irrelevancy of my “blog,” and kept selling t-shirts, like they did to everyone else, and set up some sort of preemptive plan to discredit any coverage I may post before I post it. Sometimes it takes public pressure to create action.
February 25, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
But Trig, getting told to F off is exactly what should have been reported. Sometimes I think you go for the journalistic side, other times you’re a blogger. You seem to want to have the respect a journalist commands, but you can’t do that with one sided hit pieces.
February 25, 2016 @ 11:40 pm
Blackwater,
In most cases, when writing a story, it is best to reach out to both parties. But that’s not ALWAYS the case. Sometimes, like in this instance, it is important to NOT reach out to one party. Let me explain:
I posted this article on Tuesday night. If you go to Tuesday on SCM and look, I didn’t post any other articles that day. I ALWAYS post and article in the mornings on a weekday. There may have been one, maybe two weekdays in the last calendar year where I did not post an article in the morning. The reason was because I purposely waited until night to post this article, because I knew We Hate Pop Country would be posting new T-shirt ads on the Facebook page. So when I posted this article at 8:30 p.m., all people had to do was go to the We Hate Pop Country Facebook page and see for themselves that they were posting these ads.
If I had posted the article in the morning, or asked We Hate Pop Country for a statement, then they would have preemptively posted about how I was a liar, and that everything is a fabrication. They’re saying that anyway, when many people went to their Facebook page, and saw what was happening themselves. They would have said the screenshots had been photoshopped, and lied to attempt to cover it all up. Basically, not informing them was the way to catch them red handed, and it could only have been done this way.
Also, I have addressed this issue before: I don’t think the term “blogger” is a bad word. Some people may try to use it against me as such, but it’s of no consequence to me. Sometimes I write articles like this, and sometimes I write blogs. Sometimes I ever refer to posts as blogs. I think blogging can be very powerful and important. Blogging has started revolutions, and helped create the independent world of American music. But whether I am blogging or writing “articles” I try to do it all with integrity. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I make mistakes all the time. But in this instance, I believe NOT reaching out to We Hate Pop Country beforehand was necessary for the “blog” or “article” to be most effective.
This wasn’t a news story, it was a cause. The t-shirts are down, and that’s all that matters. If it took a “hit piece” to do it, so be it. Call it what you will, I stood up to the bully and got the lunch money back.
February 24, 2016 @ 9:45 pm
Those are awesome shirts. I’d rather buy an illegal shirt than wear one purchased at a Luke Bryan concert
February 25, 2016 @ 6:37 am
The shirts are really bad ass. I’ve bought tens of Jones shirts throughout the years directly from his estate, and my favorite is the one purchased from WHPC. Nice shirt, nice quality, and the most bad ass Jones shirt I’ve found. I agree with this article, unauthorized use of a persons name/likeness without permission is wrong. I’ve spent hundreds (albums, books, concert tickets, shirts, museum tickets, moonshine, etc) on Jones that ended up going in Nancy’s pocket, so I don’t know if I feel any better about my money going directly to his estate.
February 25, 2016 @ 7:58 am
WHPC is a lame, ignorant site ran by a bunch of psychotic morons that are stuck in the past. All they do is trash pretty much ALL modern mainstream country artists. I think everything they do is for money, because they sure as hell are not promoting little-known modern country artists like Trigger does here on SCM. Their attacks are personal on most of the artists, thats just dire ignorance.
February 25, 2016 @ 8:38 am
Just want to point out most everyone on the internet has violated a copyright by illegally downloading music.
It can also be illegal in some cases to use images without the consent of the photographer or the consent of an artist/management.
February 25, 2016 @ 2:17 pm
Well, I applaud your efforts here as I oppose making money of a dead person image/likeness/personality since they cannot consent to it. But all I can say is welcome to the club on this one, you’re joining the ranks of Marilyn Monore, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison…
Go to Society6 where some people are making a decent living off of other people’s ideas and personalities under the guise of fan art or tributes. It is a huge issue and one I am on the fence about it. I oppose record companies and music publishers making money off of dead artists like say Cole Porter and his lyrics. Heck I even oppose the families of most estates making money of an artists/musicians in work which they had no hand in creating (i.e. Jimi Hendrix, Cobain, Winehouse, Jackson). Like I am kind of disgusted by how Marilyn Monroe’s image is just whored out on t-shirts in any manner a company chooses. She was a person fer fuck’s sake and never wore a freakin’ gangsta bandanna.
I think at this point most intellectual/artistic property should be public domain like I think Superman and Mickey Mouse should be PD and as I said Cole Porter’s lyrics but not any actual personality/person… but then I find I am opposed to things like Calvin pissing on a Chevy logo. Maybe because Watterson is still alive and that isn’t what his work was about, maybe because I just have issues with people making money off the back of another person’s hard labor and passion. No easy answer for me as an artist with his own works and ideas.
February 25, 2016 @ 7:12 pm
I knew, and felt, this coming the very first time I saw a Facebook friend liking one of their posts. No substance, no sincerity, no heart, no intelligence beyond creating a brand to make money. So glad you are bringing this up and I know ”“ being a friend of yours ”“ that this is something you always been cautious about even if it meant you would lose money not promoting SCM in a way even similar to what these guys are doing. You have integrity buddy. Money is not the answer.
February 26, 2016 @ 10:17 pm
i must find a copy of this Corning Ware book
February 26, 2016 @ 10:38 pm
holy smokes, not cheap. the book is just as much a collectable as the damn cookingware is
February 26, 2016 @ 11:44 pm
Well, the original cover price was $15.00. The reason it’s so expensive now is because 1) It’s out-of-print at the moment 2) It’s a really good, sought-after book for folks who are really into that kind of stuff. It’s not something for the general reader, it’s a reference book. And I wrote it what feels like a lifetime ago. But the fact that folks are now willing to pay $135.00 for new copies I think speaks to the quality of the effort. That’s why it baffles me why some are holding it up as some embarrassment that I’m supposed to hide from. I don’t know why anyone would even care. These people profess to hate me, but their stalking my past like they’ve got a hard on for me. I hadn’t even though about that book for years until people started making memes about it. These people need hobbies.
February 27, 2016 @ 9:49 am
Hey Trigger, I’m really curious about to know about these rumors about you being banned from some Muddy Roots Festival and Willie Nelsons Forth of July picnic, not that I believe it because it’s coming from WHPC but I’d like to hear both sides of the story.
February 27, 2016 @ 10:35 am
HeavyMetalCowboy,
First off, both of these rumors are complete and utter bullshit, and I’ll explain why in a minute.
But why are you even asking these questions? Why would anyone believe anything these thieves and liars are saying? They STOLE from the estates of country music legends. We know this. This is a certified fact that would hold up in any court of law. People told them that what they were doing was illegal, and they continued to do it with impunity. They lied about the sales being non-profit. They lied to everyone by saying the sales were on their “last night” and then posted the same ad the next night as well. All of this is bulletproof certified and documented exhaustively. And in the vacuum of being able to offer any defense to their irresponsible and illegal behavior, they try to character assassinate me with their lies.
Even if it was true that I had been banned from Muddy Roots and Willie Nelson’s picnic, what the fuck would that have to do with anything? How does that materially change anything THEY did? Any why would anyone even begin to believe it? Remember, the morning after I posted my article, they spread the rumor that I had written this while completely ignoring the death of Sonny James. Dozens and dozens of people spread this bullshit online, when all they had to do was actually come to the site, and see that a story on Sonny James was the second one from the top. These are stove-headed moronic fucksticks who will believe anything their buddies tell them on Facebook and parrot it because it’s popular in the “scene.”
Now, as for the rumors, they’re ludicrous. And again, all anyone has to do is simply come to my site and poke around. I am friends with Jason Galaz at Muddy Roots. We were hanging out just two weeks ago at the Ameripolitan Awards. Hundreds of people were there. We shook hands on the red carpet. We spoke for about 15 minutes during the intermission. There’s no beef between us. I worked my dick off at the 2nd and 3rd Muddy Roots as a volunteer. I hope to go back sometime in the future and volunteer again, but financial restrictions have kept me from going to the last couple. Don’t take my word for it, reach out to Jason and Muddy Roots and ask them. Just last month, I posted an article about Muddy Roots’ upcoming Nashville Boogie, and interviewed Jason about it:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/chris-isaak-to-headline-nashville-boogie-full-lineup-released/
That was just last month, so why the fuck would I be “banned” from anything? It’s fucking fabrication.
As for Willie Nelson’s picnic, I along with many other journalists, got hosed by C3, which is now owned by LiveNation, and were denied press passes, AFTER the event was deemed sold out. The stove-headed fucking morons at We Hate Pop Country are brilliantly clueless about the tectonic movements happening in the live music realm in America, and don’t comprehend just how important this story was, how LiveNation is monopolizing American Live music, and what a critical issue that is. So I wrote about it. I could have gotten into last year’s picnic through an artist, but decided not to. You can read all about it in the following link. Once again, all this information is RIGHT HERE in front of people’s eyes. If they refuse to acknowledge it and instead to believe rumor, then they’re fucking morons, and there’s nothing I can do about that.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/an-open-letter-to-c3-presents-in-regards-to-willie-nelsons-4th-of-july-picnic/
Again, for every question We Hate Pop Country has had to answer for illegally selling merchandise and screwing over country legends, I’ve had to answer ten. It’s fucked, and the world is fucked if this is the kind of scenester, insular, and moronic culture that is pervading the country music underground. It’s meme culture run amuck.
February 27, 2016 @ 11:10 am
Oh wow… I never heard that side of the story… I was just asking out of curiosity I’m not accusing you in any way shape or form, what your saying is a lot more comprehensive and well structured than what they were saying, and I believe you on the whole getting blamed for everything and having to answer to everybody, I’ve been in that situation before so I know how it feels. And now I’m believing more and more everyday that they’re compulsive liars and cheating out the ass crooks who literally steal people’s money for what you say they do. I know this situation with them has been stressful and nerve racking for you but you gotta understand that no matter what shit goes down I’m on your side and so is everybody else on here. And I hope this situation will blow over eventually.
February 27, 2016 @ 12:00 pm
I didn’t mean it to come across like I was jumping down YOUR throat. I just have no other choice but to deal with these rumors swiftly and strongly, and since I have no desire to run them down on Facebook, I address them here.
I knew when I posted this article that it would stimulate an entirely new wave of lies and personal attacks. But I also knew this was the only way to get We Hate Pop Country to cease their illegal activity. I don’t care what people think about me, and that’s the fundamental misunderstanding all of the rumor spreaders don’t understand. We Hate Pop Country uses fear of retribution to stamp down on anyone who would question what they do. Basically, they’re bullies. People were telling them what they were doing was wrong, but they believed the rules didn’t apply to them because they have so many “likes.” But the law applies to everyone.
March 12, 2016 @ 7:31 am
Trig,
You should be so proud! I have no idea why you would be embarrassed, or why people would act like you should. Everyone has to pay the bills. Everyone who posts here has a life outside of music. I work for a news station in southwest Missouri and it’s my job to write news stories about Donald Trump every day.