Best known for his film-themed mashups, which create banging electro tracks out of sound clips from movies like Toy Story and Hook, Australia-based electronic artist Pogo (aka Nick Bertke) has already been in some minor-legal trouble with copyright holders. Things got much worse, however, when U.S. work visa issues meant he had to spent three weeks in an American jail and was subsequently banned from entering the U.S.
According to a blog post from Pogo, concert promoters the Agency Group allegedly failed to provide him with the proper travel documents for his fall American tour. Because of this, he spent three weeks in prison and is now banned from the United States for a staggering ten years.
Here's an excerpt from Pogo's post about the incident:
For those of you less informed, I have just spent three weeks in US custody. Two in a county jail, and one in a federal detention centre. It was proper incarceration, courtesy of The Agency Group and their failure to provide me with the correct travel documents for my September tour in 2011. The moment they heard the news, they removed me from their list of clients and never communicated with me again. I'm not one to set fire to people's reputations, but wow, I was unimpressed with these people to put it mildly.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the many people who offered me their support. My mother took it upon herself to keep everyone up to date on Facebook, the forums have been writhing with outrage, Jessica Terry at the New Zealand Consulate in New York went to great lengths to expedite my deportation, and I received an innumerable amount of letters from everybody that brought me much joy in an emotionally arduous time of my life. Thank you so much, everybody. I hope to have everything back to normal within the next few days!
The Agency Group has yet to comment on the situation, but Pogo's full report, including a scan of his U.S. ban documents, can be viewed here.
Thanks to OC Weekly for the tip.
According to a blog post from Pogo, concert promoters the Agency Group allegedly failed to provide him with the proper travel documents for his fall American tour. Because of this, he spent three weeks in prison and is now banned from the United States for a staggering ten years.
Here's an excerpt from Pogo's post about the incident:
For those of you less informed, I have just spent three weeks in US custody. Two in a county jail, and one in a federal detention centre. It was proper incarceration, courtesy of The Agency Group and their failure to provide me with the correct travel documents for my September tour in 2011. The moment they heard the news, they removed me from their list of clients and never communicated with me again. I'm not one to set fire to people's reputations, but wow, I was unimpressed with these people to put it mildly.
I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the many people who offered me their support. My mother took it upon herself to keep everyone up to date on Facebook, the forums have been writhing with outrage, Jessica Terry at the New Zealand Consulate in New York went to great lengths to expedite my deportation, and I received an innumerable amount of letters from everybody that brought me much joy in an emotionally arduous time of my life. Thank you so much, everybody. I hope to have everything back to normal within the next few days!
The Agency Group has yet to comment on the situation, but Pogo's full report, including a scan of his U.S. ban documents, can be viewed here.
Thanks to OC Weekly for the tip.
