Dead stars sign UK copyright ad
p2pnet.net News:- Much play is made about the fact a whole passel – more than 4,000 – of ageing performers have signed a huge ad expressing alarm at the fact the UK Gower report is suggesting music copyrights shouldn’t be extended so they’d reach into the 22nd century.
Chris Ovenden says the danger goes beyond threatening the continuing livelihoods of Sir Cliff and Sir Paul, and others of their ilk.
If Gower has his way, “practically everyone with a computer is heading straight to jail,” says Ovenden.
But back to the ad, it seems the ancient rockers are digging into the past in more ways than one.
Here’s what Creative Commons creator Lawrence Lessig has to say on his blog:
For almost 10 years now, I’ve been waging a war against retrospective term extension. My simple argument has been that copyright is about creative incentives, and you can’t create incentives retrospectively.
I now see I am apparently wrong.
As reported yesterday, there was an ad in the FT listing 4,000 musicians who supported retrospective term extension. If you read the list, you’ll see that at least some of these artists are apparently dead (e.g. Lonnie Donegan [left], died 4th November 2002; Freddie Garrity, died 20th May 2006). I take it the ability of these dead authors to sign a petition asking for their copyright terms to be extended can only mean that even after death, term extension continues to inspire.
I’m not yet sure how. But I guess I should be a good sport about it, and just confess I was wrong. For if artists can sign petitions after they’ve died, then why can’t they produce new recordings fifty year ago?
Why not indeed?
The Wikipedia on Donegan and Garrity.
Also See:
ageing performers – Gower on UK copyright extentions, December 7, 2006
danger goes beyond – Gower report: jail file sharers, December 8, 2006
blog – Ok, so I’m wrong, December 8, 2006
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December 8th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
maybe the musicindustry trainee that created this add should have checked the catalogue listing of artist he got from his boss to fill in as “petition signers” for those that are not alive anymore?!
Did Elvis also signed?
December 9th, 2006 at 7:12 am
Perhaps the noted (and some not not noted?) are currently residing in (the U.S. city) of Chicago. Isn’t there where the phrase “Vote early, vote often” originated?
December 10th, 2006 at 12:40 am
Once again we find that there is no low too low for the cartels to stoop to. I do hope this one turns right around to bite them on the ass. I hope it wakes those in charge of making laws to ignore the extending of copyright lengths any further than the already outrageous lengths they are already at.
Copyright only serves one purpose and the cartels would like to throw that out the window so they can reap unrestricted and unlimited profit potentials. The original purpose was to allow LIMITED time protections before it turns to public domain. At the present there is nothing making it into public domain. The length of copyright has been extended now to where nothing we know and like will make it to public domain during our lifetime in the US. This is a perversion of the copyright intents and purposes and should not be allowed to expand.
The cartels love dead artists. They guarantee a renewed interest in the artists past works. That business as usual will continue without having to worry about paying that artist more. There will never be a contract renegotiation from a dead artist.
Further lengthened copyrights have done nothing for the artist to encourage them to continue to produce more works. All it does is pay the cartels to keep it locked up. When was the last time you were excited about a new release? For myself it was back during the Beatles era. From that time on, the excitement has left the building along with Elvis. The same should happen to the extensions of copyright.