Paradise City creator explains series was pulled from streaming over Doors lyrics
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Paradise City is available to stream again after a copyright claim filed by rock band the Doors led to all eight episodes being temporarily removed shortly after its premiere, the series creator explains to EW.
"We are so grateful for the incredible support of all of our Paradise City fans," series creator and Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen says in a letter released exclusively to EW. "As you are aware, the series was briefly removed from Prime video due to a copyright claim from a third party, which was in reference to copyrighted lyrics used within dialogue of episodes 7 and 8. This has since been resolved, and Paradise City is now back on Prime Video."
The show was taken down from Amazon Prime Video on March 30, just five days after its premiere. It was back the following day without explanation, until now.
As Avildsen explains in the letter, a manager for the Doors was watching the show and reached out to Amazon after catching lines of dialogue that were part of copyrighted lyrics from the band's hit 1971 Doors song, "L.A. Woman," that were not properly cleared and licensed. (Even if the copyrighted lyrics are spoken and not performed, both instances are considered copyright violations under the United States Copyright Act.)
Anthony Duty/Sumerian Films/Hit Parader A scene from 'Paradise City'
The drama series follows a group of young rock stars who put their band the Relentless back together and hit the road for a tour. In episode 7, the characters Capricorn (Brooke Lyons) and Gretchen (Olivia Culpo) have a conversation using several lyrics from the song.
Capricorn: "You really don’t seem like an L.A. woman."
Olivia: "What? I didn’t grow up here or anything."
Capricorn: "Oh, you’re like a lucky little lady trapped in the city of light.
Olivia: "Lucky, this looks lucky to you?"
Capricorn: "Never saw a woman so alone."
Capricorn gives another nod to "L.A. Woman" in the season finale when she refers to the Relentless frontman Johnny Faust (Andy Biersack) as Mr. Mojo Rising.
Listen to the Doors song here:
"Our journey has been a road untraveled, as we set an unprecedented standard for bringing you this stellar cast via an independently financed project with no studio or network attached," Avildsen's letter — which was approved by the Doors management and publishing company, Wixen Music — continues. "Completely independent, we were subject to such claims aforementioned, as we lacked the protection of a major studio. The manager of The Doors had reached out to Amazon after he coincidentally binged Paradise City in the first weekend of release. He had no knowledge that it was my team who was behind the project, nor did I realize that I couldn't just use the Easter egg of The Doors' copyrighted L.A. Woman lyrics within actual dialogue without proper clearance and licensing. The Doors' management was very helpful and supportive, the issue has been settled, the proper license has been obtained, and we thank you all for your patience while we worked this out."
Avildsen confirms he has since obtained the proper license and was able to settle all issues with the Doors management, adding, "Let this be a reminder, just as the underlying message of series entails, that dreams are yours to make. Here's to all the underdogs. Peace, love, and rock and roll."
Paradise City — also starring Booboo Stewart, Bella Thorne, Ben Bruce, Ryan Hurst, and the late Cameron Boyce — is now streaming (again) on Amazon Prime Video.
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