Flaw Plagiarized Yet Another Song From a YouTuber
Update, 10/01, 10:30 a.m.: A THIRD accusation from a DIFFERENT artist has now been made! Read about that here. Original story follows below.
When down-and-out nu-metal act Flaw were accused of plagiarizing a song from metal YouTuber Douglas Patrick a couple of weeks ago — a blatant ripoff that easily passes the pedestrian ear test — the band’s vocalist, Christopher Volz, issued an apology saying that the unnamed member of the band who brought in that song idea would be dealt with, that he reached out to Patrick to make amends, and that he was really quite torn up and embarrassed about the whole thing.
At the time, I offered the following commentary on how the situation could play out:
“[Volz] fails to mention, or perhaps hasn’t considered, that this could be the tip of the iceberg. If the band member in question so blatantly ripped off one song from a mostly unknown internet guitarist, is it possible he’s done the same in the past, only no one noticed? Flaw are a low profile enough band that such thievery, major or minor, could easily slip under any original creator’s radar.”
And now, lo and behold, that exact revelation has come to pass. The PRP has sleuthed out that “Persistence,” another track from Flaw’s most recent album, Vol. IV Because Of The Brave, wholly borrows multiple sections of Patrick’s song “KoЯn style_Nu Metal/Rap Metal/Beat Instrumental 22.” You can listen to both below; the plagiarism is obvious.
I’m not aware of the power structure in Flaw — who owns the rights to the band’s name, who calls the shots, etc. — but the member who committed such blatant thievery should be publicly called out by the rest of the band and relieved of his duties immediately. Anything short of that would be massively disrespectful to music creators everywhere. As for the lawsuit, I hope Patrick takes that fucking goon for every penny he’s got.
It’s also worth noting that I would be shocked if there aren’t even more examples of this kind of plagiarism on Flaw’s most recent album, and perhaps back catalogue, too. The unnamed member is surely quaking in his boots at the moment and likely coming up with lame excuses he’s gonna have to use in court.
