The Electric (better known as The Electric Slide) is a four wall
line dance set to
Marcia Griffiths and
Bunny Wailer's song "
Electric Boogie
"Electric Boogie" (also known as the "Electric Slide") is a dance song written and originally recorded in 1976 with Bunny Wailer.
History
It is strongly associated with the "Electric Slide" line dance and has since become a celebratory staple. Th ...
".
Choreographer, pianist and Broadway performer Richard L. "Ric" Silver created the dance in 1976 from a demo of the Bunny Wailer recording. There are several variations of the dance. The original choreography has 22 steps, but variants include the Freeze (16-step), Cowboy Motion (24-step), Cowboy Boogie (24 step), and the Electric Slide 2 (18-step). The 18-step variation became popular in 1989 and for ten years was listed by ''Linedancer Magazine'' as the number-one dance in the world.
Controversy
In 2007, Silver filed
DMCA-based take-down notices to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
users who posted videos of people performing the 18-step dance variation.
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
(EFF) filed suit on behalf of videographer Kyle Machulis against Silver, asking the court to protect Machulis's
free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...
rights in recording a few steps of the dance in a
documentary video posted to the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.
On May 22, 2007, the EFF came to an agreement to settle the lawsuit: the settlement states that Silver will license the Electric Slide under a
Creative Commons
Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
noncommercial license
and to also post the new license on any of his current or future websites that mention the Electric Slide.
References
{{reflist
External sources
The Electric Slide
Line dances
Novelty and fad dances