Rebecca Black's "Friday" taken off YouTube today
(CBS) - It's a happy Friday indeed for "Friday" haters - as in, that ridiculous song with absurd lyrics.
Rebecca Black's hit "Friday" was taken off YouTube today by her lawyers. At the moment, the YouTube page reads, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Rebecca Black."
The action comes about as the 13-year-old and Ark Music Factory fuss over who owns the rights to the annoyingly popular song. Ark Music is considered a "vanity" production company that aspiring artists - or in Black's case, parents of an aspiring artist - pay thousands of dollars for videos to be written, filmed and promoted. The company's tagline: "Get Discovered!"
"In March, Black's lawyers sent a letter to Ark Music, accusing the company of copyright infringement and unlawful exploitation of her publicity rights," said The Hollywood Reporter. Black claims she never got the master recordings she was entitled to by contract.
This probably wouldn't be an issue if "Friday" never went viral. (Cha-ching!)
Earlier this week, the song could have been rented for $2.99 on Ark Music's site. Black tweeted that she wasn't behind the decision to charge listeners. "Thanks for all the messages regarding the $2.99 fee added to Friday video, I have NOTHING to do with this!!" she said on June 14.
Until all of this is resolved, what's a Rebecca Black fan to do?!
