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Posted on 2014 by MG

Space Oddity in space (really)

Space Oddity is from 1969. Who knows if Bowie, at the time, would have ever imagined that one day it would be sung in space, really (maybe yes, since we were in the space age).

This video was recorded on the International Space Station (ISS) by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is also quite a good singer, and in just one year it garnered around 23 million views. Then, however, it disappeared due to the usual, and in this case, in my opinion, very stupid, copyright issues: the publisher, who owned the rights to the song, had granted its use for a year, and Hadfield, faithful to the contract, had removed it.

However, given its success, Bowie and his publisher rushed to extend the license for another two years, and the video was made available again.

Some considerations on this copyright issue:

  1. What are the publishers thinking? I'm saying this from a purely commercial perspective. Who would think that a video like this could cause rights holders to lose money (or that this video could reduce sales of the original)? If anything, a song dedicated to space exploration on the ISS is incredible and completely free advertising!
  2. From a legal perspective, the situation is dubious. The ISS is an international station. A tiny slice of territory shared by 15 countries with completely different copyright laws—just think of Russia, where copyright is practically nonexistent. Furthermore, the ISS constantly floats across the globe. Which jurisdiction should apply? (Interested parties can read a dissertation on the topic published in the Economist.)
  3. But weren't all the lawyers exterminated during the Great Awakening of 2023? [Based on a Star Trek parody]

Okay. Here's the video.


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