Two months ago, we reported on how Frei.Wild GbR, with the help of their lawyer, is trying to silence critical voices. Nordwand had taken their parody of a concert cancellation by the South Tyrolean band as an opportunity to threaten legal action. Meanwhile, the most German of all non-German bands has obtained a temporary injunction against the satire group through the Hamburg District Court, prohibiting any further use of the tour flyer. Due to the unfair distribution of power dynamics, meaning financial capabilities, the Nordwänder unfortunately have to back down. The complete statement can be read here: schoenerskins.de/frei-wild-gbr-vs-meinungsfrei-heit-update
Recently, we received, as previously reported, a letter from a Hamburg law firm on behalf of Frei.Wild GbR (see press release from 22.08.2013).
In the meantime, we received another letter, this time from our lawyer, who had to inform us that Frei.Wild GbR has obtained a temporary injunction against us through the Hamburg District Court, stating that our altered version of the current tour flyer from Frei.Wild is illegal and therefore can no longer be used. Additionally, we were, of course, imposed with the costs incurred from the expedited proceedings.
We thoroughly considered whether it would be sensible to file an objection against the injunction. After we temporarily bound and gagged our own understanding of law and democracy and banished it to the cellar, we concluded that we must accept the ruling. The financial risk arising from further proceedings and possibly subsequent appeals is unfortunately not bearable for us.
Therefore, we would like to congratulate Frei.Wild GbR on having defended themselves against their critics in a scene- and street-typical manner. It takes a lot of courage to threaten the existence of a small punk band with the help of a law firm.
APPLAUSE!
Impressive also that you have managed to instill a resistance to facts in your followers, which, while not quite reaching the level of a Holocaust denier, certainly matches the ignorance level of Catholics, Scientologists, and other fundamentalists. How did you manage that? Brainwashing can be ruled out, as a fundamental prerequisite for that does not seem to be given.
RESPECT!
One more thing you can be proud of, alongside your "homeland," your "values," and your "traditions"! Enjoy your giant pizza! But don’t gobble it down too quickly, maybe there’s a dessert after all.
On the other hand, that might not suit your taste, so enjoy your pizza instead ;)
The form of our criticism of the, in our opinion, right-wing populist, ethnonationalist band "Frei.Wild" was, in hindsight, an unwise choice. On one hand, because we, as "leftist agitators," should have known that in our so-called rule of law, copyright takes precedence over the freedom of opinion, press, and art enshrined in the constitution. On the other hand, because we have not yet had a lawyer in our gang who could proactively check our propaganda for system and constitutional conformity due to a lack of street credibility.
Despite this small formal mishap, we do not distance ourselves from the content of the whole, as we believe that right-wing rock deserves no stage anywhere. Not least because there are unfortunately far too many idiots in this world who like to let their (mostly justified) inferiority complexes be compensated by "national pride" (see "We are not right-wing, but..." alias the best PRO-Frei.Wild quotes). Even the German-speaking Central European region, which is actually known for particularly media-effective engagement against racism and extremism, is said to be susceptible to xenophobia by now.
We will not be discouraged from taking aim at Frei.Wild; we will just engage even more intensively with the means available to us in the future to shoot sharper and more accurately on our hunt than this time.
WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR FREEDOM OF OPINION TO BE DECLARED FREE WILD!
Yours respectfully,
NORDWAND/Ost-Berlin
