# Beware composer fellows! Another company is stealing tracks again!



## Waywyn (Dec 31, 2013)

Hey guys,

unfortunately there is another company/guy out there, stealing tracks, pretending it is his work. The company's name is White Wolf and the composer seems to be Michael Fabian (although it could be a fake name): http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhiteWolfMusic?feature=mhee (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhiteWol ... ature=mhee)

I am not sure if the guy sold/licensed any of this music, but better "kill it" as long as the facehugger didn't jump yet!

Not only did he stole one of my tracks, he also used the track "Permission to die" which I composed as an official demo for Native Instruments Action Strings!

Some guys already noticed that one of those tracks (Ambush) is 8Dio's "Castles Of The Sun". You may want to check his YT channel/website because I assume the other tracks are stolen too!


Cheers and thanks for your time,

Alex


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## mark812 (Dec 31, 2013)

What a douche.


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## germancomponist (Dec 31, 2013)

https://www.facebook.com/whitewolfmusic?fref=ts


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## The Darris (Dec 31, 2013)

> "I created this song on behalf of the community of composers that work hard everyday to provide people with our wonderful world of music. Music is their passion, and their passion drives and inspires them to create beautiful works of art for all to enjoy.
> Composers like Alex Pfeffer and Daniel James (and many others) even take time to create helpful videos to encourage new composers to learn and aspire as they have. For their effort, I dedicate this video to them, as a sign of appreciation for all that they have done for the world of music."
> -Michael Fabian



Wow, what a crock. I really hope this individual gets what is coming to them, legally.


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (Dec 31, 2013)

Hmmm, well fact is people don't know copyright law. I still think some common sense would need to factor in this. Creating something LIKE Alex's work would be understandable, even if note for note. But to COPY THE EXACT AUDIO?

...this is like that Russian company that made the new Rock n' Roll Racing and ripped the original announcer audio from the SNES game and thought it was "ok".

Guess when I start my YouTube thing I should keep an eye on that page.


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## SyMTiK (Dec 31, 2013)

wow what a cunt.

I also saw him say in a comment on one of his videos that he is "working on setting up an itunes" yeah, good luck putting stolen music up for sale. see how far that gets you.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Dec 31, 2013)

^ My sentiments exactly.


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## IFM (Dec 31, 2013)

From his website:



> Now, it is my future goal to design and compose music, and perhaps get to meet or even work with my role model, Thomas Bergersen, along my journey towards that goal.



Steal one of his tracks kid...you'll meet him soon enough...in court.
:x 

Chris


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## kawaivpc1 (Dec 31, 2013)

Well, don't be too harsh on this kid.. lol he must be a high school student. He's around 18 or something... 
Old dudes, just send him some warnings and he will stop.
Hans never sued anybody for copying his spiccato action themes from Batman Begins. He never blamed anyone....

This is why it's better to not start publishing music at so young age especially when the music requires lots of studies. 
Many composers later finds out that being original is more important than trying to sound like other composer. Only few people on this planet truly make it and get spotlights in this field. It requires lots of philosophy and studying.


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## Daniel James (Dec 31, 2013)

Oh jeeze not again.

-DJ


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## Kuusniemi (Dec 31, 2013)

kawaivpc1 @ Wed Jan 01 said:


> Well, don't be too harsh on this kid.. lol he must be a high school student. He's around 18 or something...
> Old dudes, just send him some warnings and he will stop.
> Hans never sued anybody for copying his spiccato action themes from Batman Begins. He never blamed anyone....
> 
> ...



There'd be no problem if he'd just borrowed ideas, but he literally used Alex's original audio and added on top of that....


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## synergy543 (Jan 1, 2014)

Kuusniemi @ Tue Dec 31 said:


> There'd be no problem if he'd just borrowed ideas, but he literally used Alex's original audio and added on top of that....



Beethoven just borrowed a Russian folk song and literally dropped it in, verbatim into his E-minor Quartet Op.59. Nobody seemed to notice much, other than Rimsky-Korsakov, who himself collected these folk songs....which he put under his own opus number 24!

What a terrible series of crimes have been committed by these scoundrels! Do you think these two are beyond the statue of limitations? Or can we still prosecute and get posthumus convictions? :wink:


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## Kuusniemi (Jan 1, 2014)

synergy543 @ Wed Jan 01 said:


> Kuusniemi @ Tue Dec 31 said:
> 
> 
> > There'd be no problem if he'd just borrowed ideas, but he literally used Alex's original audio and added on top of that....
> ...



Personally I don't condone such acts whether done by a youth or a seasoned maestro...


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## kawaivpc1 (Jan 1, 2014)

Beethoven did not steal the folk song. It was done on purpose.. I remember he dedicated that quartet to Russian royal people. I'm not sure if that's correct but he was asked to write music for some higher ups in Russia. That's why he used folk song as a thematic material.


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## synergy543 (Jan 1, 2014)

So then I turn the page in Rimsky-Korsakov's Op.24 of "stolen" Folk Songs and guess what's on the next page?.....The lovely Princess's Round by Stravinsky...or so we thought... its an old Russian Folk Song, not Stravinsky's! Stolen (or not), by Rimsky-Korsakov and published in his Op.24 (No.79, In the Green Garden, Garden Fair). And then next thing you know...Stravinsky steals it.

Serial thieves....all of them! Or maybe its a composers tradition to borrow? Stravinsky had a quote about that,... but according to Steve Jobs, he stole that line from Picasso.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/outraged-over-composers-stealing-or-just-feeling-duped/2012/02/24/gIQATmbykR_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle ... story.html)


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## ProtectedRights (Jan 1, 2014)

But this guy even names the composers from whom he took the music (see quote posted by The Darris). So he seems to understand himself as kind of a DJ or something. By "create a song" he probably just means "putting it on YT". 

If he really wanted to steal music and sell it as his own, he would never give your names, right?


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## RiffWraith (Jan 1, 2014)

Kuusniemi @ Wed Jan 01 said:


> There'd be no problem if he'd just borrowed ideas, but he literally used Alex's original audio and added on top of that....



Did he take Alex's actual recording, or did he use the same AS loops that Alex did, adding similar orchestration?


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## TheUnfinished (Jan 1, 2014)

He has stolen other people's actual audio, not been influenced by them or remade them (and some of the silly comments about classical music examples here require a bit of going back to school).

He is 18/19, not 8/9. He knows what he's doing. And there are many more like him out there. It's simple theft. And hopefully he'll get done for it and learn a lesson. Sadly, I suspect he's the tip of the iceberg.


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## germancomponist (Jan 1, 2014)

TheUnfinished @ Wed Jan 01 said:


> He has stolen other people's actual audio, not been influenced by them or remade them (and some of the silly comments about classical music examples here require a bit of going back to school).
> 
> He is 18/19, not 8/9. He knows what he's doing. And there are many more like him out there. It's simple theft. And hopefully he'll get done for it and learn a lesson. Sadly, I suspect he's the tip of the iceberg.



This!


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## Kuusniemi (Jan 1, 2014)

synergy543 @ Wed Jan 01 said:


> ! maybe its a composers tradition to borrow? Stravinsky had a quote about that,... but according to Steve Jobs, he stole that line from Picasso.
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/outraged-over-composers-stealing-or-just-feeling-duped/2012/02/24/gIQATmbykR_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle ... story.html)



In the article you linked the "thefts" were done as collaborations with permission from the original authors, so it's a completely different situation.

And I doubt Picasso ever stole another painters physical painting and called it his own. He stole IDEAS. Not actual finished works of art.


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## woodsdenis (Jan 1, 2014)

This is my understanding of the Copyright law as it pertains to this case, the discussion here is going a bit OT.

In Ireland ( and I assume EU ) you may take a public domain work, folk song etc and incorporate it into your own composition. As long the musical arrangement is different from others you may claim the publishing. This is totally legit and legal.
N.B. We are not talking about a recording here !!!!!

There are two other forms of possible copyright infringement going on here possibly.

Intellectual http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property which is the actual tune/ composition

and 

Mechanical http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license which is the actual recording.

These two may or may not be owned by the same entity.

What seems to be going on here is Mechanical and Intellectual . The actual recordings or part of them being misrepresented as someone else's. This is the same as Daniels case with Khashkin.

Is this correct Alex.


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## Waywyn (Jan 2, 2014)

With all kinds of respects, but what is going on here?

There is a guy stealing music out there and you are talking about how classical composers influenced others or reperformed music from them or that Hans never sued anyone of using his string patterns. We are not talking reperformings, ideas or patters, we are talking 1:1 music which has not even been copied, but just taken and reused literally bit by bit!!

I am sorry to say, but some of you guys bitchin' about possibly every loop going to be released in a sample library and how catastrophic it is to create music with it, ... but if it is about taking 1:1 audio material, it seems like some of you calm down the situation or at least try to justify the happening?

With all the respects (again) but please in NO way encourage kids to use your arguments to keep on ripping other peoples or YOUR music. If we proceed like this, it will soon look very dark for us composers!


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## Waywyn (Jan 2, 2014)

... and as an add, what already Matt said. That guy is 18/19 so he totally knows what he is doing. Remember he is old enough to drive a tank and go to war!!!


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## germancomponist (Jan 2, 2014)

Waywyn @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> ... and as an add, what already Matt said. That guy is 18/19 so he totally knows what he is doing. Remember he is old enough to drive a tank and go to war!!!



True!


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## markwind (Jan 2, 2014)

Agreed, I am very new here, but I subscribe completely to your sentiment Alex. 

Also, his Youtube and Facebook channel seems to be gone. Which doesn't mean that he stopped, if he willingly stole and lied he'll most likely do it again. And indeed, there might be plenty of others doing this. 

Also Alex, are those tracks not ID registered? Youtube would have flagged them. Not sure if such registration is possible without putting it on sale.


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## vrocko (Jan 2, 2014)

Edit- link removed due to possible mistaken identity.


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## Tatu (Jan 2, 2014)

vrocko @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> According to his twitter page, his name is xxx yyy, which can also be an alias.
> https://twitter.com/************



Did you guys check that fellows music on soundcloud? Is it really the same guy or are we just hunting all going by the original name of "whitewolf"?

Anyways. Who ever it was, he's a dick or - most likely - has a very small one.


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## markwind (Jan 2, 2014)

[...]


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## RiffWraith (Jan 2, 2014)

vrocko @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> According to his twitter page, his name is Tobias Arnold, which can also be an alias.
> https://twitter.com/whitewolfmusic



I found that SC page earlier. I am almost positive that that is not the same person.

Cheers.


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## vrocko (Jan 2, 2014)

Hmm... When his facebook page that was linked in this thread was still active, I could have sworn that's where I initially found his Twiiter page. Now I can't remember for sure but if I am wrong than maybe it should be removed from any posts just to be fair.


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## markwind (Jan 2, 2014)

As I dont want unrelated folk to be associated with blame best to remove it indeed. Same goes my bost above Jeffreys. 

Which brings me to an important point. 

Alex, I totally see where you are coming from. But I think, using this forum as a means to expose certain individuals, or warn us, might not be the way to go. It would truly be a shame if we start blaming people by mistake using similar names and then have these sorts of accusations be indexed by Google. 

Which is not to say that it shouldn't be addressed, but perhaps via other ways? Just my few cents.


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## Waywyn (Jan 3, 2014)

markwind @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> As I dont want unrelated folk to be associated with blame best to remove it indeed. Same goes my bost above Jeffreys.
> 
> Which brings me to an important point.
> 
> ...



You are right. People have to be careful to not blame unrelated people or maybe companies with a similar name or just assume things. However, if you checked out the link of that YT channel I posted (which is now closed) you were able to see his name.

Anyway, I think it is the right way to expose these kind of people. First of all I didn't sue him or anything so he hasn't fallen into a financial hole, but it was just a lesson to remember! It is just kind of like a soft execution on a virtual marketplace. There are tons of lazy wannabe composers out there willing to do everything to get exposure and this is just a warning shot towards them! If these go down in silence, no one would realize this. If we solve things like these in public it should clearly state that you only get closer to your goal if you do just one thing to make it happen: working on it!

Just as a little info, that guy wrote me an excuse and to be honest I won't go into details, because it is that pathetic it is almost emetic! Anyway, I think everyone deserves a second chance, but some things you clearly should now BEFORE you get into bizz!


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## TheUnfinished (Jan 3, 2014)

Blimey, Alex, would love to know how he tried to argue that one away. But appreciate you probably don't want to diverge personal correspondence, so no worries.


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## Waywyn (Jan 3, 2014)

TheUnfinished @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> Blimey, Alex, would love to know how he tried to argue that one away. But appreciate you probably don't want to diverge personal correspondence, so no worries.



Yeh Matt, I am not a fan of posting private conversations publically, but I don't have a problem to give a short summary:

Basically he feels so sorry about it, he just didn't get the attention he expected and therefore tried a "different way".
(again I am still constantly shaking my head on why he picked a track which probably has been heard by tenthousands of people).

He regrets everything and he learned his lesson. I encouraged him, he is thankful about me kicking his nuts and he dedicates a track to me. Then some quote by Meltzer and so on!
(for some reason I start thinking that he already got something precomposed and an excuse-mail-template in case it happens a bit more often, ... but that'd be a bit nasty to think about, no?)


Again, everybody deserves a second chance, but this apology looks that greasy ... I am not sure what is better. Staying silent or probably don't write anything at all 


However, case closed, lesson hopefully learned, keep on believing in humanity and put some trust into the thought that people can always change if they want to!


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## TheUnfinished (Jan 3, 2014)

Well, we can hope he's learned his lesson, otherwise we create a climate where rehabilitation is impossible.

He must be aware by now how far his name has reached and how badly this episode hs kicked him up the arse.

Onwards and upwards!


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## Christof (Jan 3, 2014)

His youtube channel seems to be shut down.


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## RasmusFors (Jan 3, 2014)

So did this guy actually earn money on his "compositions"? Are we dealing with a new Slivochnii, or is it just a lazy kid with composer ambitions?


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## Waywyn (Jan 7, 2014)

RasmusFors @ Fri Jan 03 said:


> So did this guy actually earn money on his "compositions"? Are we dealing with a new Slivochnii, or is it just a lazy kid with composer ambitions?



No he didn't yet, but he was up for it!


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