By David Topping

When Austrian company Wiener Stadtwerke approached Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy about using the song “This Is The Dream of Win & Regine” in a commercial, Pallett declined (probably nicely). So, naturally, Wiener Stadtwerke used the song in a commercial in June of this year anyway––or, at least, the most similar re-recorded version of Final Fantasy’s song possible, changing a few notes in the violin part, adding some guy awkwardly singing “can you feel it?” and crediting it to N.A.S.C.O. (which is probably not the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization).
Pitchfork is reporting that instead of offering money (or nothing) as repentance for their dickishness, however, Wiener Stadtwerke is now helping to finance a festival––Maximum Black Festival––that will be co-curated by Pallett and his European booking agent. The festival will take place over three days (February 27, 28, and March 2) in London, Vienna, and Berlin, and will host bands that clearly are not as evil as the name of the festival suggests, like Dirty Projector, Frog Eyes, Deerhoof, and, almost certainly, Final Fantasy. Now that’s how you apologize for copyright infringement.