Dischord Records gets Swooshed

There has been tons of bantering online about this; legal aspects, wether or not Dischord should attempt to sue Nike, and Nike’s apology. I have my opinion which is based purely on my principles and respect for Dischord Records.

Someone at Nike screwed up. Most likely in one of two ways.

• A person or people not familiar with the community and culture Dischord has been a part of and contributed too immensely decided to imitate the artwork without due diligence or contacting Dischord first (the later is fact).
• A person or people informed on said community and culture decided to take Nike’s mantra to heart and “Just do it”, knowing that they could stonewall any action by Dischord.

Regardless of the circumstances I found the imitation insulting. The first time I heard Minor Threat I was probably 13, this band among a few others changed my perspective on music and life in general. Those of you that know me have probably heard me say this about a ton of things, but “it had a serious impact on my life and who I am today”. It turned me on to a world of people that were not satisfied with the available paths for music and self expression so they did something about it. They created (and still create) music they like and built the vehicles to distribute it to people. Keep in mind that this was happening before the proliferation of internet access. Dischord records has been around for 25 years and is still independent. Fugazi will only play all ages venues and charges very little for their shows, it was always $5 I don’t know if its gone up.

For a company that would sue anyone for anything that even hints a silent fart of imitating their logo or artwork, I find it tasteless that NikeSB would choose to exploit an icon and ethos that has earned respect for so many years, standing behind two things Nike would never
understand:

• Writing music that speaks to you
• Putting the creativity before money

More Links:

WikiPedia:Minor_Threat