…must not be good for the gander.

I’m surprised this hasn’t been brought up prior to now.

I took the time to re-read the full speech published on U2.com Paul McGuinness gave to those at the MIDEM International Manager Summit.

In his remarks, Mr. McGuinness stated, “They have families and it is terrible that a direct effect of piracy and thievery has been the destruction of so many careers.” This was in regard to the losses of jobs in the record industry due to the loss of profits and the forced consolidation of the labels.

Wasn’t it Bono who said “Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief?”

Readers of atu2 may remember reading a story written by Kevin Hutchinson back in July 2005 about Polish artist Piotr Mlodozeniec, the creator of the CoeXisT image in 2000 which Bono utilized in one of the most dramatic parts of the Vertigo Tour (which McGuinness shared that in 2005/2006 grossed $355m and played to 4.6m people in 26 countries.)

The CoeXisT image was created for an exhibition by The Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem. The Museum on the Seam’s Director and Curator, Raphie Etgar, said in a statement, “It is the responsibility of the Museum on the Seam to protect the images and the rights of the artists participating in the exhibition.”

When atu2 last communicated with Mr. Mlodozeniec, he received a credit on Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago DVD but he did not state that he received any financial compensation for the use of his artwork. He went on to let us know, “the people from U2 proposed me long time ago to give them my sign as royality free (i haven’t done this). now they are not contacting me
anymore. if the museum on the seam had got something - i was not informed.” The Museum on the Seam has not updated us as to if they received any compensation.

If Mr. McGuinness feels that there are thieves in the midst, then he and/or U2 should revisit the use of this artist’s work as part of their live show which they made $335 million.

The kicker - I believe Mr. Mlodozeniec was remarkably missing from the credits at the conclusion of U2 3D. Shouldn’t he be compensated for the use of his image in this film as well?

The other kicker - in the United States, the CoeXisT image was trademarked by coexistonline.com. Piotr was unable to copyright his own image, nor was the Museum on the Seam able to protect him as an artist.

U2’s long-time artistic contributor and U23D director, Catherine Owens, was quite clear during her press conference at the Cannes Film Festival last year that U23D would not be released to the home DVD market until the technology was available to fully experience the 3D quality of the film at home.

There must be some U2 fans over at Samsung as they’ve showcased at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 3D capable plasma televisions and a upconverting top box product called TriDef 3D, which comes with handy 3D glasses and everything!

Who thought that the technology would catch up so quickly? Who wants to make a new year’s prediction that we’ll have U23D at home within the next 12 months? (I’m not a betting woman, and I haven’t any clue what the odds would be on that!)

With the busy holiday season afoot, there are a few news items that might have flown under the radar screen…

1) If you’ve been following the news about Elevation Partners, then this New York Post article is right up your alley. It gives a head’s up that Conde Nast Portfolio’s January issue features an interview with Bono, as well as gives some insight about Bono’s thoughts on hair length and the boardroom.

2) If you enjoy the work of Edun’s designer Rogan Gregory, then you’ll be happy to know that he’s finalized a deal to design for Target stores.

and finally,

3) @U2’s fearless leader, M2 has been still locking himself in his tres chic office (approx. 15 square feet) to put the finishing touches on U2 Diary, but that hasn’t stopped him from talking with U2Spain about the project. Check out the interview here.

I was gonna put this on the U2Diary.com blog, since I’m working on the book at the moment, but it’s kinda misplaced there since the info. doesn’t belong in the book.

I’m re-reading BP Fallon’s Faraway, So Close book and there’s a little story where Edge reveals that the original inspiration for “Desire” is not a Bo Diddley song, as the press reported and assumed, but was a song called “1969″ by Iggy Pop and the Stooges.

You can hear for yourself on iTunes.

If you’re into this kind of stuff, you might also check out this recent post I did put on the book blog about the original inspiration for “With or Without You” –a 1977 punk/electronica song you probably never heard of before.

Alright … back to the book for me.

For those of you keeping track, VH1 has started airing a revised version of the “Window in the Skies” video. As director Gary Koepke pointed out in his interview in the Washington Post, Beatles footage clearance came too late for the first version of the video. The new version incorporates The Beatles footage midway in the video, just before Elvis’ 1968 comeback special footage. This now makes 3 different versions of the video.

In a recent interview with Robin Williams in Dublin’s The Event Guide, interviewer Paul Byrne took the opportunity to ask Williams about Bono and The Edge toward the end of the interview:

Our time is nearly up, so I ask Williams if he’s aware that there are those in the U2 camp who have taken to calling Bono Mrs. Doubtfire, given his ever-growing resemblance to a certain jet-setting movie superstar. “My stunt double!” he laughs, before launching into the chorus of ‘In The Name of Love’. “Whenever I see him, I go, ‘Hello, son’. And The Edge. It used to be just Edge, now it’s The Edge. If he ever gets knighted, it’ll be Sir Edge. ‘I knight you, Sir Edge’.”

When we last spoke, Williams hadn’t quite gotten around to exploring U2 country all that much, having just managed a trip to Knock and a quick gander around Galway. “Yeah, it was weird. I was with a friend, and someone told her about the Galway Races. And she said, ‘The Galway Racist?!’. ‘No, the Galway Races’. ‘Oh, okay, that’ll be fine’. I’d love to get back, I had a lovely time. When I was in Dublin, I saw the Book of Kells. It’s a great, great place. I’ve got to come back and ride my bike there, because I’ve heard it’s a great place for bike riding.” And it would be the perfect opportunity to put that U2 tribute band together. “Oh, that would be great. Bonopalooza.”