CANCELLED KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
Short and simplified explanation :  

Dear Backers, Dear Grissinis, and Dear new visitors. 

Our Kickstarter campaign for our new album of covers dedicated to Attack on Titan soundtrack has been taken down, following a DMCA notice (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). The notice was issued by the biggest music major in Japan, holding the music rights for Attack on Titan soundtrack.
Through this DMCA, we’re accused of infringing mechanical rights.
Mechanical licensing is what allow us to record and reproduce our covers on CDs, vinyls but also on streaming services, by paying royalties to the right owners and following specific licensing terms. It is the first and most basic licensing we secure, it is daily bread for all serious cover artists in the world and a licensing scheme that exists since more than one century.
It’s a crucial kind of licensing for composers as for performing and studio artists, so the music from living composers can be performed / recorded and composers remunerated. 
Detailed licensing terms can be find under article 17 paragraph 115 of US copyright laws and international equivalents, which is for us the licensing terms of the Nordisk Copyright Bureau in Scandinavia where we are based. You can find NCB mechanical licensing terms here if you’re curious.

The law is with us. This DMCA is another example of how much Japanese right owners lacks understanding on the reciprocal agreements of representation they themselves signed with sister societies around the world so that the music they represent can be distributed worldwide.
Like in 2020, we can give a counter-notification to this DMCA : Kickstarter would receive it and send it to the DMCA issuer, who will decide or not to lift the DMCA. 
Like in 2020, the person who will decide to lift the DMCA or not, is the person who issued it.
Therefore, our counter notification will be very likely denied, which give us only one solution : fighting the issue in court.
Such solution isn’t viable, international court process is very long and expensive : we cannot afford it. 
Therefore, our Kickstarter will be cancelled and all pledgers will be refunded.
Meanwhile, we created a new campaign on Indiegogo so you can report your pledge here and pre-order a Vinyl, CD or such.  

The right-owner (not Sawano, the people who represent him) will probably be aware of this campaign but this one will be harder to DMCA as we worked behind the scenes to defend ourselves in such occurrence. I cannot give you the details but it is our best option so far.  

We tried very hard to solve the issue amicably, without success. We would still like to show good will so we decided to make a few change on the campaign :

• The visual is different despite we’re not attacked for it as we made great efforts to stand far from the use of copyrighted content. Kickstarter backers, please refer to the Kickstarter message I sent you for more informations about the initial visuals.  
• We removed the music boxes, which pains my heart because it is the purest expression of a mechanical licensing as it is – literally – a mechanical reproduction of copyrighted content. However, it is a highly priced object which might triggers the attention of right-owners. 
• We changed the name of the campaign and titling. The original name of the campaign was ”Requiem for Attack on Titan” which is a descriptive use. Such use falls under fair use despite ”Attack on Titan” is a registered trademark. We’re also bounded by law to name the authors and original title of works, so that ”Call of Silence” from Attack on Titan soundtrack can be differentiated from other songs named ”Call of Silence” 

There is many grey areas around copyright due to the fact that the practice of the industry is evolving faster than the legal consensus. As a whole, this is an attempt to make the campaign airtight. We’re facing right owners that are on top of the Japanese music industry but are also particularly unaware of what is allowed for performing and recording artists when they have signed such reciprocal agreements of representation with international sister societies (NCB, STIM, GEMA, SACEM, SDRM, etc, through JASRAC).
It is also a matter of principle but we can’t afford to face them in court.

We invested 100.000€ in this production as a once in a life time opportunity we wanted to seize to really give to the world what we can do best. 
The results are here, your support is outstanding.
But copyright madness was around the corner. It’s always been. It’s exhausting. 

I’m hoping you’ll stick with us, we need you more than ever.   
Tatakae!

Best,
Grissini
 

MORE DETAILLED VIDEO EXPLANATION :

ATTACK ON TITAN IS COMING TO AN END.  

A 10 years colossal journey. 
A journey through the darkest corners of the human heart, a mirror that reflects the cost of freedom and the weight of our choices. 
A story of humanity’s last stand, mirroring our own struggles, fears and the indomitable spirit that refuses to surrender. 

From Hiroyuki Sawano’s masterful compositions, we heard the intense, pulsating beats, the haunting choirs, and the soaring melodies, all whispered of humanity’s struggle and the relentless march of time.
The strings shall tremble, echoing the walls that shielded humanity for so long. 
The brass shall sound like the horns of freedom, resounding in the face of impending doom. 
The choir shall chant the solemn hymns of memories lost and sacrifices made. 
Each note, a tribute to the characters who fought, the dreams that soared, and the truths uncovered.

The music of Shingeki no Kyojin was a titan in its own right, carrying the weight of the narrative. It is a legacy that deserves to be remembered through the ages, a testament to the power of music in storytelling.
We bid farewell and we invite all who have been touched by this journey to join our symphony of gratitude. 
Let the music swell, let the tears flow, and let the memories of “Attack on Titan” live on. 
We brought 125 musicians and choristers together to loudly sing our praise. 
This ” REQUIEM ” is our tribute to one of the most marking manga and anime of this decade, our final curtain call, a devotion that will forever echo in the corridors of our hearts.  

SHINZO WO SASAGEYO !
One final time. 

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Since 2010, it has been my perpetual fight with the Grissini Project.
Also a perpetual doubt, in a perpetually advancing environment where quantity is constantly prioritized. Where acoustic instruments and all our classical training tends to be devalued and replaced by synthetic and virtual sound libraries.  
Still, we live an incredibly exciting period for musicians where tools and possibilities are countless.

It can be scary as it redefines the practice of the industry on a daily basis but I’m also ignited by an urge to “crack the code’’. 
To find a way for ”no quality compromises”.
To find a crossroad where the pop culture meets classical music. 
To revive the classical craftsmanship I come from and that mostly thrived through concert halls, nowadays being inexorably deserted by audiences.
I’m hoping to make it shine through my beloved and incredibly rich Japanese pop culture music repertoire, which has such a fantastic aura and which is rarely approached in acoustic contexts.

Attack on Titan is one of the anime and manga that marked me the most. 
The depth of the story is endless and is echoing so much to adults but also to younger generations.
Sawano’s melodies are remarquable and I had a strong urge to explore and give another light to his music with our classical and acoustic approach. 
All stars aligned and I don’t think I could find better soundtrack, timing and opportunity to do something impactful.

Now, 400.000€ stretchgoal. 
That’s the amount we have to reach to be able to be sustainable on this production.
The filming and recording costed us 100.000€. Meanwhile, the net profitability of this Indiegogo campaign is around 25%, once we paid all costs related to the rewards production : licensing, payment fees, Indiegogo fees, fulfillment, manufacturing, taxes. So, 25% of 400.000€ indeed.

We probably won’t reach this goal but I think it’s very important that we give you a clear idea on the real cost of such production.  
If we reach 400.000€, then I can re-invest 100.000€ in another ambitious production of this kind. Otherwise it will probably be a one time happening, despite I’m sure the production will be sustainable at some point later on if everything stay live, thanks to the other streams of incomes it’s driving.  
On Kickstarter I had to put a low funding goal which was confusing. With Indiegogo we had the opportunity to set this goal as a flexible goal, which means even if we don’t reach it (which will be probably the case), your pledge will still go through and you’ll receive your CD or album 🙂 
Pretty much like a pre-order campaign, with one dream stretch-goal.
According to the average pledge amount on our cancelled Kickstarter, reaching 400.000€ would require only 6000 backers, which is only about 1% of our total fanbase 🙂 

Counting on you! 
Cheers,
Grissini

EXPECTED DELIVERY SCHEDULE 
Risk and challenges. 

As for our previous campaign ”The Ghibli Album”, a lossless WAV and MP3 music file will be delivered to all our backers straight after the campaign. 
While producing CDs is pretty standard process with short lead time, vinyls have particularly longer and more complex production process.
Adding up to a very competitive market with a new hype igniting the vinyl industry, waiting time in vinyl factories are currently averaging 6 months.
To that, we must add potential unplanned issues, for example a DMCA, which led us to delay the scheduled delivery to September 2024.

Such waiting time ensure the best quality and avoid any compromise. We believe it will be worth it, as most people can still enjoy the music with the lossless file provided while waiting for such beautiful object as a vinyl to land in their letter box.
 

Thank you for scrolling that far 🙂
Hoping to meet some producer tier fans backstage someday!