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Beyond Eldred v. Ashcroft
I thought I'd grab up some of the many commentaries and responses to the Eldred decision. If you read only one of these links, see Lessig's blog. Jack Balkin, another law professor who contributed to the case, is discussing it in his blog. The NYTimes has two distinct news stories on the decision (NYT1, NYT2), plus a biting editorial about the decision. Copyright scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan has a piece in Salon. The LA Times posts one of the very few stories to present the decision in a positive light. Reason is one of several to mock the mouse.
The LA Times Article was a gag-inducing personal piece. I loved how the law is supposedly for little people and their legacy:
To quote the woman in the article, about her grandfather's films:
"I'm happy that people won't be able to take his art and show it in a way that would diminish or hurt it, or put it in a way that he wouldn't have wanted," she said.
From what I can tell, she's mainly worried about people selling tapes on EBay. How horrible. People VIEWING AN ACTORS FILMS! I'm sure that's the last thing he wanted.
I'm glad this woman cares for his legacy. I commend her work. But in the bigger picture, her win is the loss for many of us. I'm sure in 20 years, when the companies go to congress asking for a longer copyright extention, there will be some other justifications.
But in the end, I'd rather see a legacy for all. No man stands tall except on the shoulders of others.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
When your really think about it, the fact that they are trying to prevent stories from enterring the public domain is even more hypocritical.
Light cup, beer drink, thin so chain, neck turtle fat, man I won't say it again
Suzanne Lloyd has spent the last four years refurbishing her legacy: 26 films made by her grandfather, silent film star Harold Lloyd. She has spent millions on digitally restored prints and full orchestrations.
now i'm sure suzzie has worked hard for her digitally remastered films, but just because they were grandpa's films doesn't mean they're hers. it's been said over and over and over again. usefull art and science... to the creator... for limited times... NOT to the creator's grandchildren for decades to come for century old media.
Allow me to summarize this "biting editorial":
1) The Supreme Court's decision that extensions to copyright were constitutional really just favored copyright holders. Holy fuck, no kidding?
2) Even the defense didn't really think that the laws Congress passed would be declared unconstitutional, but they still tried.
3) The public benefits from public domain. Also, an unsupported assertion about how the public domain is a "great democratic seedbed of artistic creation" is put forward. A fine sentiment, whatever, still nothing "biting".
4) The author concludes that this is a setback for the public domain, and adds some doom and gloom nonsense about how it's the beginning of the end for it.
Come on, people. Is this what "biting" has come to mean these days? No fucking way.
"Biting" would have been to call Lawrence Lessig a bumbling idiot for presenting such a ridiculously weak case to the Supreme Court. "Biting" would have been to further berate him for his self-serving commentary that basically boils down to "well, gosh, I knew I wouldn't win but I had to try. Ain't I such a great person for trying? Now, it's your turn. You go fix the problem."
What a chode. Opponents of the DMCA and other copyright extensions had a great chance to make a compelling argument about the benefits of the public domain, and Lessig fucks it up. How many similar cases do you think will make it before the Supremes now? That's right, ZERO. It's called a precedent and it now works against us. Thanks, Lawrence.
Moving on to other potential targets, a "biting" editorial could also have noted that Disney, who has drawn heavily from public domain, is downright reprehensible for refusing to give anything back.
Similarly "biting" remarks could have indicated that the Disney films which drew most heavily from public domain material (Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid) have been enormously successful, while those which come from the febrile, impotent imaginations of the hacks at Disney (Pocahantas, many others ad nauseaum) tend to do quite poorly.
One might also "bitingly" observe that if Disney would just throw these harebrained plots back into the public domain pool and let them profit from others' efforts for a decade or so, by the time Disney ripped them off once more they might be halfway watchable.
Such a "biting" editorial could also have targeted those jackals in Congress who routinely sell out the public's interest in these matters to Disney and other megacorporations. Fuck you, Senator Hollings.
I prefer a little more bite in my "biting" editorials, thanks all the same.
Here's a tip, Michael: if you're going to throw in snide, jackass remarks and unsolicited observations, at least do everyone the courtesy of making them reasonably intelligent.
"Biting editorial" my gangrenous left testicle.
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.