CMU Daily 07.08.17: Liverpool's new Hope & Glory festival cancels day two, US Kickass case to proceed

New Liverpool festival cancels day two after queues dominate day one
The inaugural Hope & Glory Festival had to call off its Sunday proceedings this weekend, but - unlike last month's Y Not Festival - organisers couldn't blame the weather or the mud, because this event took place in Liverpool city centre and the sun shined (though, according to two reviewers, it did get quite muddy around the seemingly overflowing urinals).

Promoters pulled the second day after much criticism online of the first day of the festival, which suffered from long queues - both to gain access to the site and for bars and other facilities once inside the compound - as well as over-crowding and stages running up to two hours behind schedule, delays that resulted in Charlotte Church being kicked off the bill.

Plenty of bands did play on day one and there was positive feedback of many of those performances, though online most of the chatter was about the queues and the crowds, with Tim Booth of headliners James following up his set with a late night tweet declaring: "Well that was fucked up. Sorry everyone was messed around so badly. Hope you managed to find some pleasure amongst the chaos".

For a time it was unclear whether day two would go ahead, with organisers apparently telling local media it would, while some artists and staff had been informed otherwise. Liverpool City Council then put out a statement confirming the Sunday line-ups had indeed been cancelled, while the official Hope & Glory Twitter feed stated simply "no festival today".

While nothing was happening on stage on Sunday, plenty was occurring online thanks to other posts made on the official Hope & Glory Facebook and Twitter feeds, which did little to placate annoyed ticket holders. An individual production manager was blamed for the festival's site not being fully operational, with said production manager's personal email address then published on the festival's Facebook page, the implication being that pissed off punters should direct their rage at him personally.

Meanwhile on Twitter, the festival's official feed began Sunday by stating that "following the unfair and vitriolic comments, some of us have decided not to proceed". It then hit out at Tim Booth's aforementioned critique of the event, and then sparred with complaining ticket-holders in a series of tweets, occasionally annoyed in tone, more often flippant.

But, as most of those watching all this unfold online noted, there was no actual apology, not even for the inconvenience caused to those who had attended the event. Which seemed odd. Indeed, so unusual were the event's official social media posts - given the circumstances - a spoof Twitter feed had been established before the day was out.

Meanwhile, many on the social networks declared the whole thing a textbook case study in how not to manage crisis communications. Which was all the more ironic given the company behind the festival - tinyCOW (and not, we should add, the in-no-way-connected Hope & Glory PR) - is also a communications agency.

Elsewhere on Twitter, Liverpool businesses offered discounts to Hope & Glory wristband holders who now found themselves at a loose end in the city, while some local venues announced they'd try to accommodate any bands who'd been due to play the festival. And several bands did then play impromptu shows.

A slightly more conventional post on the festival's Facebook page later in the day stated that "it was with great regret that we felt it was necessary to cancel today's Hope & Glory festival", before promising another announcement on the cancellation before midday today. Comments made by tinyCOW's Lee O'Hanlon to the Liverpool Echo yesterday suggested a falling out between his company and Liverpool City Council, which may well be expanded on in today's statement.

Meanwhile ticket-holders were told to approach their ticket agent for a refund which, if tickets were bought via the festival's own website, would be either Eventbrite or Skiddle. While those with Sunday tickets will presumably be due a full refund, it's not clear what the situation is for those with weekend tickets, or those who had a Saturday ticket but gave up trying to get in because of the queues.

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Taylor Swift expected to testify in photo grope case
Taylor Swift is expected to testify as her legal battle with a former radio DJ, David Mueller, over allegations he groped her, arrives in court this week.

As previously reported, the alleged groping incident occurred backstage at one of Swift's shows in Detroit in 2013 during a meet and greet with fans. Mueller actually went legal first, in 2015, suing the musician for defamation after he lost his job on a local radio station two days after meeting her. He claims that a complaint from Swift's security team about the alleged grope directly led to him being fired. Swift then countersued for assault and battery.

In a deposition for the case, Swift stated: "Right as the moment came for us to pose for the photo, he took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek and no matter how much I scooted over it was still there. It was completely intentional, I've never been so sure of anything in my life". For his part, Mueller has admitted that he had touched Swift during the encounter, but insists that it was accidental.

It seems unlikely that either side in the case is in the mood to settle, meaning the jury trial considering both sides' lawsuits should go ahead this week, and could last for two weeks. A key piece of evidence will be the actual photograph Swift described in her deposition, though both sides reckon that picture proves their respective cases, so it's not clear what exactly the jury will make of it. Other than that, it's basically his word against hers.

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US judge says Kickass criminal case should proceed
A US judge has declined to dismiss the criminal case against alleged KickassTorrents owner Artem Vaulin, ruling that the American government has a sufficiently solid case for the matter to proceed to trial.

As previously reported, Vaulin was arrested in Poland at the request of the US authorities just over a year ago, after which popular file-sharing hub KAT went offline. The KAT man has since been fighting extradition from Poland to the US to face charges of criminal copyright infringement.

In the US, where Vaulin is represented by lawyer Ira Rothken - better known for repping Kim Dotcom in the long-running MegaUpload case - the KAT owner's legal team tried to have the entire case against their client dismissed.

Their core argument was that KAT could only be held liable for contributory or secondary infringement - ie facilitating the infringement of others - because Kickass never actually hosted any of the music or movie files its users shared, and was therefore not involved in primary copyright infringement.

And, Rothken reckons, secondary infringement is not a criminal matter under US law, meaning only civil litigation can be filed and, therefore, the criminal case should be dismissed.

But the judge considering the case in the Illinois federal court did not concur, at least that there were grounds for dismissal.

Noting the defence's argument that if KAT could be liable for criminal copyright infringement so could any search engine, the judge wrote that "for present purposes the court need not decide whether and when a search engine operator might engage in conduct sufficient to constitute aiding and abetting criminal copyright infringement".

Which is to say, that's a debate to be had in a full court session, but those concerns are not, in themselves, grounds for dismissal. Needless to say, Rothken was critical of the judgement, telling Torrentfreak that his team was now considering possible routes of appeal.

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FanFair publishes a guide for getting a refund from Viagogo
Anti-ticket-touting campaigners the FanFair Alliance have published a guide for people seeking a refund from a secondary ticketing platform - and especially the once occasionally and now constantly controversial Viagogo - based on the experiences of Claire Turnham, who set up the Victims Of Viagogo group on Facebook after her own run-in with the site.

The new guide went properly live following the latest expose of the secondary ticketing market, this time on the BBC's consumer rights shindig 'Watchdog'.

The programme had a particular focus on Viagogo - the once chatty ticket resale site that's now based out of a bunker in Switzerland and a secret hidden room in London - and featured customers who believed they had been missold tickets by the firm and who were now struggling to get their money back.

Turnham's Victims Of Viagogo group has helped disgruntled customers reclaim over £100,000 from the secondary ticketing firm since it launched earlier this year.

Meanwhile the music community led FanFair-campaign, with backing from MPs like Sharon Hodgson and Nigel Adams, has got ticket touting back on the political agenda in the UK. Campaigners would like existing ticket resale regulations to be better enforced plus new rules introduced. FanFair has also criticised how Viagogo in particular uses Google advertising so that when customers search for tickets for big in-demand tours, an official-looking link to touted tickets on the secondary site comes at the top of the list.

Commenting on the new mini-guide produced with Turnham, FanFair Campaign Manager Adam Webb said: "A properly-functioning secondary market should work in the interests of consumers, and enable those who genuinely need to resell a ticket to do so at the price they paid for it. However, as was highlighted by BBC1's 'Watchdog', the business model promoted by Viagogo looks to be more about profiteering at the audiences' expense - persistently masquerading as an 'official site' in its online advertising, employing high-pressure sales techniques and potentially breaching consumer law".

He went on: "Unfortunately, we continue to hear from ticket-buyers who are extremely frustrated when seeking redress from Viagogo, which is why FanFair has teamed up with Claire Turnham to produce some comprehensive guidance to help them secure a refund. This is not an easy process, but - having been supported by Ed Sheeran's management and promoters - we are pleased to report that Claire's advice is already proving useful".

Turnham herself added: "If you are distressed and desperately seeking a refund, I urge you to persevere. It's not an easy process but it is possible to reclaim your money. Keep referring to our self-help guide and connect with others for support. You can do this!"

The guide is available here.

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Attitude Is Everything adapts its Charter scheme for grass roots venues
Accessibility charity Attitude Is Everything has launched an alternative version of its Charter Of Best Practice aimed at smaller grassroots venues, promoting low or zero-cost initiatives that can make venues and gigs more accessible to disabled and deaf music fans.

The charity has now approved over 130 venues and festivals which follow is main accessibility charter. The new grass roots version will enable participation by venues which, for financial reasons, can't realistically meet some of the commitments of the main charter - like providing a disabled toilet - providing they come up with alternative solutions, such as liaising with another local business and agreeing use of their facilities, and then signposting these for gig-goers.

The new scheme is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and backed by the Music Venue Trust. And AIE says that the grass roots charter acknowledges "the tough economic conditions that most small venues operate under", and therefore seeks to provide some "flexibility" but "without compromising on the underlying goal of ensuring that these vital music hubs are inclusive and accessible to everyone in a local community".

AIE boss Suzanne Bull says: "Many artists cut their teeth and hone their performances in local venues all across the UK, and to be able to open these venues up to disabled artists and audiences is really exciting. To ensure [this scheme] gets off to a flying start, Attitude Is Everything is also delighted to announce that the Grassroots Charter launches with official backing of the Music Venue Trust, and that MVT member Tunbridge Wells Forum is the first grassroots venue to be awarded a bronze level certificate".

The co-owner of the Tunbridge Wells Forum, Richard Simm, adds: "The Forum's honoured to have been the first venue to be accredited under this scheme. Attitude Is Everything's advice has been invaluable in improving access by better understanding the needs of deaf and disabled patrons. Live music, enjoyed up close as only a small venue can provide, is a beautiful thing, and should be available to all - so we wish [AIE] all the best in rolling this out to other venues across the country".

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Danny Jones likely to replace Gavin Rossdale on The Voice
Producers of the UK version of 'The Voice' have reportedly axed Gavin Rossdale off of Bush from its panel of judges, with that Danny Jones from McFly now favourite to replace him on what is now an ITV show, of course.

According to The Sun, the show's producers felt Rossdale lacked the necessary charisma to judge the voices of The Voice's contestants, while Jones impressed when he judged on the kid's version of the show earlier this year.

Says one of those pesky sources: "Gavin was great to work with during the series, but the bosses just felt he wasn't right in the end. He didn't make much of an impact, and they want someone with serious spark and charisma. So they have taken the decision that he won't be back next year. Danny is currently one of the favourites to replace him".

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Gordon Burns talks '24-7 Rock Star Shit' with The Cribs for Vevo
The Cribs have a new album out later this week called '24-7 Rock Star Shit' and, to celebrate, on Friday Vevo put out another instalment of its music documentary series Off The Record - which launched back in May - in which Cribbers Ryan, Gary and Ross Jarman talk all about both '24-7 Rock Star Shit' and 24-7 rock star shit.

The band are interviewed by a certain Gordon Burns, previously of 'Krypton Factor' and North West telly news fame, of whom Gary Jarman says: "We were really hoping to work with someone who would let us talk and be ourselves and be comfortable with that - that old school journalistic approach which coaxes so much more out of the subject than the modern way which seems to place emphasis on 'banter' and big personalities".

He went on: "Gordon is a consummate professional, comes from a political background in fact - he's interviewed eight prime ministers! - and it was the easiest and most conversational interview we have maybe ever done".

Lovely stuff. Says Vevo's Claudia de Wolff: "We launched 'Vevo: Off the Record' in May this year, kicking off the series with Kasabian, and we're now back with The Cribs. It's great to produce something with a real mix of performance and narrative that we can tailor to individual artists - giving fans an opportunity to hear the stories behind the music".
The documentary is here.

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Conservative MP planning Glastonbury for Tories
After this year's Glastonbury Festival became something of a Jeremy Corbyn love-in, Conservative MP George Freeman has announced he is planning a festival-style event where music fans can sing about how much they love Theresa May. Maybe to the tune of 'The Imperial March' from 'Star Wars'.

The Norfolk MP, who is something of a centrist Tory, recently tweeted: "Why is it the left who have all the fun in politics? We need a cultural revival of grassroots Conservatism". And now he's told the Financial Times that he has already raised £25k for what he is dubbing as a "cross between Hay-on-Wye and the Latitude festival".

Good times. I'm sure Formerly Of Bucks Fizz are sitting by the phone ready to get that call. Meanwhile Boris Johnson has presumably already commissioned the bus advertising announcing a Conservative Ideas Festival line-up that boasts Prince, David Bowie, George Michael and Lemmy from Motörhead.

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