We have received
written advice from MIPI that Universal Music do not plan any
further action against ABBAMAIL.
Our lawyers rang to
advise us that the matter is now closed. Universal Music & MIPI have
backed down on their original demands including wanting names,
addresses etc. of fans who have purchased goods from ABBAMAIL's
webshop. They have also backed down from their demand to be given
20-30 year old audio and video cassettes from Graeme Read's personal
ABBA collection.
Above is a portion
of the letter containing the relevant advice that Universal Music
are not taking any further action. Now that we have this in writing
and have published it on our website, we can begin to move on from
this horrible and unnecessary situation and look towards the future
for ABBAMAIL.
Like all letters
received from MIPI, the language is tough but this is, in fact, a
significant backdown from both Universal Music and MIPI. It only
seems to have come about since the protest campaign that flooded
Universal & Mono Music with emails from fans around the world angry
about the situation. The feature article on the Sydney Morning
Herald website, Australia's most reputable newspaper, also seems to
have had an impact.
ABBAMAIL did supply
MIPI with raw sales numbers over the last few years and no doubt
despite the aggressive wording of their letter, both Universal Music
and MIPI realised that they were - after all - dealing with a fan
organisation selling to hard core fans - not a major international
piracy ring.
The damage to
Universal's reputation and the ABBA brand is only exceeded by the
damage to ABBAMAIL. Rather than celebrating "a win" (as some fans
have already suggested), the next step for ABBAMAIL is to assess the
damage inflicted on us personally, financially and operationally.
Financially, we are screwed at the moment so we will urgently need
to look at ways to raise revenue to ensure all of our services to
ABBA fans can continue.
In effect, there are
no winners in this case. There has been damage to all parties.
ABBAMAIL thanks
everyone who supported us during the last few months - and
especially those who had the guts to write to ABBA, Görel Hanser,
Universal Music and show their disgust at the actions taken against
ABBAMAIL. Also, thank you to the fans who made financial
contributions to help us during the last couple of months - without
any income to cover our bills, we would have been bankrupted if you
had not have helped out.
Finally, I'd just
like to reiterate one thing: if you believe in something, it is
worth going out on a limb and standing up for your beliefs. If you
are being bullied by someone - even if it is a large corporation, it
is important to believe in yourself and make a stand. It isn't easy
standing up against a bully, no matter who or what they might be -
but someone has to. ABBAMAIL took a stand on this issue not only to
protect our organisation and our members, but also to protect ABBA
fandom in general - the thousands of fans who visit out website each
week and the webmasters of the hundreds of other fan sites on the
internet.
We are Universal
Music and ABBA's biggest customers: long term ABBA fans buy the
products that pay for the wages and profits of Universal Music and
provide money directly to the members of ABBA themselves. For this
reason alone, this kind of action should never have been undertaken
against ABBAMAIL.
We will make a
further statement about the wash up of this case in the future - but
for now, we are simply glad it is resolved and that ABBAMAIL is
still here and serving ABBA fans around the world.
Graeme Read/Grant
Whittingham ABBAMAIL Administration
For more information write to:
saveabbamail@abbamail.com
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