Yoko Ono/EMI Suit Exposes Fair Use Flaw

Ian Lamont writes "Yoko Ono and EMI Records have backed down from their suit against the makers of a documentary film who used a 15-second fragment of a John Lennon song — but only after a Stanford Law School group got involved. Even though the use of the clip was clearly Fair Use, the case exposed a huge problem with the doctrine: It's becoming too expensive for people to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right. Ironically, the song in question was Imagine."

Comments

Re:So sue to recover the losses

[twistedsymphony]

There's a difference between giving your all to help people and dipping into the social wealth to fund things that only really help a small segment of people.

Too much of the latter and your society as a whole will expect it for themselves and eventually become dependent on it.

IMO it shouldn't be the governments job to support causes and "help" the down-trodden but rather be flexible enough to allow it's citizens to support those things themselves.

why should the government be tasked with using tax dollars to support charities when citizens themselves can choose to how and where those dollars are spent by making donations themselves.

IMO the only difference between dems and reps is that the dems want to increase their influence by determining which social groups they will give money too and the reps want to increase their influence by determining which corporate groups they will give money too. Meanwhile they're elected entirely based on a platform of social equality on one side and biblical morality on the other... Neither is doing the American public as a whole any real benefit.

Ho Ho Ho!

[aproposofwhat]

Well, since that comment was submitted, I've gone from +1 to +5 Insightful, then as soon as the US woke up, back down to 0, Troll.

Fuck y'all, you Creationist assholes - I'm burning karma to keep warm, since your asshole fucking bankers and thieves have fucked the rest of the world.

You're all cordially invited to an asskicking at the Trafalgar in Aldershot, UK, as soon as you can make it.

BTW, when the cops come to my house, they generally send six - 'cause four's not enough :P