3.04.2007
Copywrong
A couple of articles on Boing Boing started me musing, once again, on the ridiculous abuse of copyright. (Remember "Apathy Reigns Triumphant" and "Tunes on TV"?)
First article: Vancouver Olympics will own words like "winter," "2010" and "Vancouver"
Um... huh? Since when can you grant someone the right to govern the use of generic words like "winter"?
Second article: Dear CSPAN: you're not Disney, Congress isn't Mickey
No shit, Sherlock. Oops, was that my outside voice?
These both reminded me of the whole Starbucks vs. HaidaBucks debacle. (At least the little guy won out that time! Check out their amusing comparison of the two companies and their even more amusing comparison of Starbucks and other common bucks
.)
All of this leads me back to the common question of why common sense is so uncommon? (So trite, but so true.) I wish I had a good answer but damned if I know. I don't even have the energy for a full-scale rant on the subject, it's just too depressing. But further insight (or perhaps I should say "actual insight") on copyright issues can be found in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large (check out his Copyright Currents section) and the Fair Use Network.
P.S. I wonder if I should now be worried about getting a takedown notice from Boing Boing or the Vancouver Olympics or Starbucks or the creators of the Rocky Horror Picture Show or anyone else that I referenced or quoted.
First article: Vancouver Olympics will own words like "winter," "2010" and "Vancouver"
"Canadian Industry Minister Maxime Bernier recently introduced Bill C-47, the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act, through which the Vancouver Olympics are guaranteed exclusive public use of the following words: winter, gold, silver, bronze, sponsor, Vancouver, Whistler, 2010, tenth, medals, and games..."
Um... huh? Since when can you grant someone the right to govern the use of generic words like "winter"?
Second article: Dear CSPAN: you're not Disney, Congress isn't Mickey
"Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi posted a minute of video of herself testifying on her blog. C-SPAN sent her a take down notice and shecaved incomplied. The Speaker should have stuck to her guns and told C-SPANto fuck offthat she was asserting her fair use rights to that material..."
No shit, Sherlock. Oops, was that my outside voice?
These both reminded me of the whole Starbucks vs. HaidaBucks debacle. (At least the little guy won out that time! Check out their amusing comparison of the two companies and their even more amusing comparison of Starbucks and other common bucks
.)All of this leads me back to the common question of why common sense is so uncommon? (So trite, but so true.) I wish I had a good answer but damned if I know. I don't even have the energy for a full-scale rant on the subject, it's just too depressing. But further insight (or perhaps I should say "actual insight") on copyright issues can be found in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large (check out his Copyright Currents section) and the Fair Use Network.
P.S. I wonder if I should now be worried about getting a takedown notice from Boing Boing or the Vancouver Olympics or Starbucks or the creators of the Rocky Horror Picture Show or anyone else that I referenced or quoted.
Comments:
Surely someone jests. If not, I will gleefully spout the words silver, gold, bronze and winter -- oh! and GAMES! - every chance I get.
Can you just see it? You're blogging about a day spent in the park with the kids. "So much fun to see them at their winter games..."
Post a Comment
Can you just see it? You're blogging about a day spent in the park with the kids. "So much fun to see them at their winter games..."
![[Valid Atom 0.3]](http://www.weirdgrrl.ca/images/valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 0.3 feed"){kind=small}
About Weirdgrrl
