Paris, March 26, 2015
BIG DATA© : FIRST FRENCH RAP BILLIONAIRE
THE FRENCH RAPPER BIG DATA© GETS HIS NAME BACK.
THE USE OF THE TERM ‘BIG DATA’ IS NOW BANNED IN FRANCE,
AND CERTAINLY VERY SOON WORLDWIDE.
The French rapper Big Data©, has obtained the exclusive use of the stage name he
used 25 years ago. As of today, no company will be able to use this appellation for
"commercial or descriptive purposes". This is a real shock for the web economy
and digital industry, as witnessed by the thousands of "Big Data" hits returned by
the web search engines.
Unprecedented
The French rapper Big Data© has obtained from the Grande Instance Court of Versailles a ban on others
using his name by arguing the previous use of the Big Data© brand, the expression being objectively
specific long before becoming generic. Companies not abiding by this legal ruling expose themselves to
a penalty of 1500 euros per observed infringement. This ruling will have widespread repercussions, since
this term is used millions of times every day worldwide to describe the concept of mega data. Big Data©
is taking legal action in the USA with very good chances of success. Negotiations under way could make
him the first rap billionaire in France, alongside his American counterparts Jay Z, Dr Dre and Sean Diddy
Combs. Sweet revenge for this rap pioneer.
Rap pioneer
A musician, artistic director, actor, Big Data© is above all a performer.
Sébastien Deleau, his real name, cut his teeth in hip-hop at the end of the eighties. A real pioneer in
France. Big Data© created an impression with a mix-tape that will go down in the annals: "pissed off".
"No urban estates in their eyes/Politicians up high/Far from their eyes, far from their hearts/You think
you're in a bunker/But when the noise reaches you/It'll be too late, you'll see". This was 13 years before
the infamous "Let's go to the Elysée to burn the old men and women" scanned by the French rap star
Joey Starr.
This writing inspired the generation of performers which has marked French rap. "I remember his first
freestyles. We'd never heard such a flow. The term didn't even exist at the time. And the words… what a
shock" recalls Jacques-Olivier Broner, now his manager and friend, who worked with the NTM between
91 and 95 during his Epic/Sony Music years.
Big Data© also influenced the young rappers of the time with his general attitude, and his rituals, including
his famous sign of recognition: fists clenched and the forefingers of both hands poking angrily towards
the sky, "writing" his initials: a B with the right hand and a D with the left.
Big Data© stopped rapping in 1990. But he is back on the scene this year with a concept album due to
be released in November "15/15 en 2015", where he raps with 15 hit rap groups in Europe.
Finally the tribute from his "children" due to him.
American negotiations
"I didn't want my name, which is an artists' signature and whose aura goes beyond my person to be used
in a context which is not connected to rap. The money's not the point, it's the respect. From now on,
there's only one Big Data, and it's me. In any case, I'm proud of my country's legal system, and you'll see
that I've never questioned that in my lyrics", the performer said.
If the American courts side with him, Big Data© may well upset the whole system. Some American
professionals, who have also got together in anticipation of a possible ban on the use of the term, are
looking for rapprochement and mediation before the court action.
"Everything is still open. It's true that the issue of personal data is particularly acute with respect to ‘Big
Data’", Jacques-Olivier Broner said, "and what can be more personal than a person's identity, than their
name? Meanwhile, in France, professionals will have to find another term, and for the other countries,
where anticipation is the rule, discussions are under way. Negotiations, if they are fast and productive,
have a chance of resulting in a positive outcome".
The performer and his manager have set out their position and remind everyone that the ruling that has
just been made is with immediate effect.
Press Contact
Marine Kruder
[email protected]
Phone +33 (0)6 26 58 65 07
Big Data in February 2015
@bigdata_seb
www.bigdata.band