Hah! Serves Time Warner right for trying to copyright a cherished, public tune! Ha! Ha I say! Now they have to pay it all back!
*Ahem!* Pardon me. I’m just so filled with joy it started leaking. Where were we? oh yes, “Happy Birthday.” When I first heard about it being copyrighted, I was certain it had to be a hoax, or at least misinformation. While I was right in the long run, the fact that until recently it was the truth made me ache. Nothing is original under the sun, and sooner or later you’ll wind up remaking or redoing something that someone else once wrote about. Copyright issues aside for now, it feels ridiculous to have an iconic tune such as “Happy Birthday,” one which I myself have sung countless times over the years, was technically borderline illegal for me to do. Hopefully this will invoke a wave of change. Not sure how, but in some way.
This is why I think that the Bridgeport Music vs. Dimension Films case is so stupid. If you can’t tell or prove what the tune or melody was without using fancy instruments and technologies, then why should it be treated as anything other than original? They (the artists) spent time and effort cutting out a small, insignificant section of someone else’s tune, and remixing the Bass out of it so it sounded nothing like the original! That’s effort, almost as much as what may have been put into making the orginal in the first place! Sure, some people will say, “if you can spend the time copying/stealing, then spend the time creating your own stuff!” To which I reply, “OK, you go ahead then! Make something completely original that no one else has ever conceived of!” Sheesh… As a writer, I know how hard it is to come up with original plots, characters, and stories. So much has been done in so many ways, it is difficult to find a way to make your ideas seem unique and not a pale reflection. Of course, I understand the need and purpose of copyright, and will defend it because I too would like to be paid for my work, but there are definite ways that the current system needs to be toned down.
Of course, that would mean a major change in mindset for people. A lot of copyright issues seem to spring up because someone wants money that someone else made off of them. I understand that completely. But at a certain point, is it all about money? Jumping onto anyone over a small infraction just to get money seems both heartless and vile. Our society praises monetary wealth highly, and anyone who attacks that is seen and treated as worse than a murderer. Take Madoff and his ponzy scheme. He stole millions from people. And while pacifists bemoan the death penalty, they’d willingly tear the flesh from Madoff’s bones for his theft. What does that tell us about ourselves? Nothing good, that’s for certain.
As for Corporations, if they are treated as human-like entities under the law, could it be possible for someone to marry them? I doubt it is possible, but if they have every right except the right to vote, surely this would be the next logical step in someone’s mad get-rich-quick scheme.
Thought of the Day: Gold endures. Use it to make the worthwhile things in life last as well. Spend it on freedom, and knowledge, and people. Because what good is it when you are cold and dead?