Hoo-ha. That teaser trailer for the new Die Antwoord album, Ten$ion, got pulled from the internet (which means they’ve officially taken it down – obviously it’s still around) because artist Jane Alexander, whose anti-apartheid sculpture the trailer strongly references, told them to. They’re in legal discussions presently.

The artwork in question – ‘The Butcher Boys,’ which depicts three life-size, human-like beasts, with powdery skin, black eyes and horns, seated on a wooden bench – was a bit of anti-apartheid art made back in 1986. Which I guess accounts for why it took Alexander three weeks to notice the video and its similarities to her own work, and take legal action.

Said Martin Heller, the lawyer representing Alexander:

“Ms Alexander does not intend to limit her work’s interpretation, and she does not seek to interfere with other artists’ work. In this case, however, Ms Alexander is concerned that Die Antwoord’s use of her work and its context might be publicly perceived as reflecting her own artistic intention. In creating the work, Ms Alexander referred to the dehumanising forces of apartheid.”

Not that it matters any that the teaser trailer for the album that came out a week ago has been pulled down, but it’s sort of a thing that oblique references are sufficient for copyright concerns to come up.

[Source: CP]