Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com

Boycotts do work — but they require the commitment of every individual who believes in the cause. So, yes: Wake up, America! Power still belongs to the people; even when the billionaires buy and sell politicians like so much lawn fertilizer, the results are meaningless if we unite. For example: what good is a 70-year copyright if the copyrighted item is a failure?

And equally important: continue to express yourselves and stand by your principles — in time some yet-to-be-defined combination of judges on the Supreme Court will strike down the obviously unjust laws when some dauntless Don Quixote points out that they fly in the face of common law and historical legal precedence.

PluQueRic
bobinvegas@hotmail.com

The WORK or DISCOVERY that was given to the author was already known by the Creator before the beginning of time. It should be given back for the benefit of mankind. You can find the actual teaching in the Torah Lev. 25:24 .

The creator of a work or discoverer deserves some compensation for their efforts. Allow a limited monopoly of 7 years. This seven years is enough to compensate the artist or discoverer. This way customers who use the work will be endebted for only a limited time. The Sabbath (7 th) Year is a time for the releasing of debts. The Teaching for this is found in Deut. 15:1-6

The Second Highest law of the land in these united states is the U.S. Constitution. Provisions are made for a limited time for copyright. The actual time limit is not specified in the Constitution, but it it looks like that the Founding Fathers intent was on providing a reasonable period of time in order for someone to recoup costs and make a profit on any work (benefitial to mankind) he or she creates.

Any cartel music or video that I download is 7 years old or older. The rest of the stuff that I watch or listen to is indpendently produce (with free use permitted) or has been already broadcast (given away by the copyright holder) on publically owned airwaves. I will not obey or honor any law that is contrary to what does not comply with the above.

The cartels do not know and/or care about what is lawful. They only care about their profits. As I stated many times previously, I no longer pay money for any entertainment cartel product because they do not meet the requirements for compensation under the higher laws.

Bravo, you did a hell of a job. You are totally right. As a direct victim I know.

Regarding the LIMITED TIME, listen to this:

My father, a composer, assigned a song to publisher, Peermusic, in 1947. Presumably my father gave Peermusic the score of the song or a recording, a requirement if Peermusic was to exploit the song for my father’s benefit and his 50 percent of the royalties.

Peermusic never copyrighted or published the song. Today Peermusic has no score or recording of the song, therefore they cannot exploit the song for the benefit of my father’s heirs.

Since the song was never copyrighted, it can now be copyrighted (if Peermusic finds the score they apparently threw away). That copyright will last until 2063, to 70 years after my father’s death. That is what the laws says.

A judge recently decided that the song stills belong to Peermusic because our pertition to rescind or anul the assignment contract was denied. This measn that Peermusic will have owned the song from 1947 to 2063, a total of 116 years while totally failing to meet their contractual obligation to exploit the song for the benefit of the songwriter and that is fine with the court.

The law in effect at the USA in 1947 gave protection for a period of 28 years, with a possible addition of a copyright renewal period of 28 years if the copyright holder filed for a renewal period registration. So the most possible copyright duration in effect then was 56 years.

There is something fishy here.

a. The 56 years of maximimum copyright protection has been transformed into an assigmnet to a publisher that lasts 116 years.
b. The non performance of a publisher has meant nothing in the courts.
c. Our (as heirs and beneficial owners) loss of the song (I doubt we will ever find a score or a recording of the song) has not resulted in punishment for the publisher. Just one (a minor one) of the over 200 errors made by the case judge, in a lawsuit against Peermusic.

The details can be found at our web site: http://www.gvenegas.com
“THE BIGGEST COPYRIGHT THEFT AND MYSTERY IN HISTORY”.

Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com

The web these days abounds with blogs and other sites like ours who see a need to limit and/or destroy the powerful influence of the “content cartel.” We each do our part in our own unique ways to bring this message and warning to the people, but I feel it is time to shout an old axiom at the rest of you:

“United we stand, divided we fall!”

Although we each have differences of opinion, we need to realize that ultimately we are really on the same side against the goliath. There is some cross-fertilization and “community”
between our various sites and organizations, but I fear there may not be enough (and that for the most part, we really just all ignore one another.) Let’s remedy the situation and strive to be more cohesive. We should link to each other and refer visitors to one another more often than we currently do. We should co-ordinate on the various projects, drives, and efforts that we come up with from time to time.

It takes team-work to make a “movement” effective. The chinese
rail-workers of the previous centrury had the saying “gung-ho!”
that they used to motivate one another, and in Korea they have the phrase “su go ha ja!” of similar meaning. Let’s adopt the sentiment and go kick some rear-end to make the world a better place for one and all!

<b>this is a rough-draft and “open-source” open letter. Please add to it and edit as you see fit …and circulate to any and every site/blog that is concerned with our issues!</b>

Shmoo, aka “independentmusician”
Admin for Boycott-Riaa