The Letter U and the Numeral 2 is a 96-page magazine and 25-minute CD by Negativland

Negativland

Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...

 detailing their conflict with the band U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, over Negativland's EP of the same name

U2 (EP)

U2 is an EP by the experimental music and sound collage band Negativland, released in 1991. The EP and the band gained notoriety when lawyers representing Island Records, the record label of the band U2, sued over misleading artwork and the use of unauthorized sampling.-History:After Helter Stupid,...

. It was released in 1992 as a limited edition of 4000 copies. Two months after its release, SST Records

SST Records

SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...

 blocked its distribution with a lawsuit claiming, among other things, copyright infringement based on reproductions of press releases sent to the press by SST; "in essence, suing the band for printing (their) threat to sue the band". SST's lawsuit is similar to the "Streisand effect

Streisand effect

The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of publicizing the information more widely...

".

Three years later, Negativland re-released this as Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2

Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2

Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 is a 270 page book and ten track CD released in 1995 by Negativland detailing their lawsuits with U2's record label Island Records for their EP U2, including many legal documents and correspondences....

. It included "Crosley Bendix Discusses the U.S. Copyright Act" plus nine other tracks.

Personnel

• Mark Hosler
  Mark Hosler
  Mark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.- Career :Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group...
  
   - tapes
  Tapes
  Tapes is a small city in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, near to Porto Alegre. It's good for sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing....
  
  , electronics
  Electronics
  Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
  
  , rhythms, Booper, clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  , organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  , loops
  Music loop
  In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , etc.
• Richard Lyons
  Richard Lyons (musician)
  Richard "Pastor Dick Seeland" Lyons is one of the members in Negativland. His personas in the band include Dick Vaughn, 5-time Cali Award winner; auto trivia expert...
  
   - tapes, electronics, rhythms, Booper, clarinet, organ, viola, loops, guitar, etc.
• David Wills - synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , voice, tape
• Peter Dayton - guitars, viola
• W. M. Kennedy - guitar

See also

• These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit
  These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit
  These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit is the 2001 re-release of the U2 EP by Negativland. It contains both tracks from the original EP, plus some tracks from the 1989 Over the Edge broadcasts on which the original EP was based, as well as live tracks recorded at the Great American Music...