Not trying to be agurementative, but i would bet it is George, did'nt he send a letter or email once threatening a suite if the site didn't just stop!
I could be wrong but I wouldn't past this scum bag to have pushed clear channel to do something about it!
You don't strike me as argumentative. The fact is we could both be right. This notion that "intellectual property" belongs to some individual - practically forever - has infected everyone. And I - admittedly - have a serious bug up my butt about the issue in a much broader sense than something as simple as streaming old radio shows. The legal eagles who handle artists, and in many cases the artists themselves, have allowed greed and ego to blind them to how everyone benefits from sharing creative process and product.
Take J.K. Rowling for example. She started out just getting by (not as dirt poor as the media made her out at first, since we all love "rags to riches" stories - but far from wealthy.) At first, she took fan fiction and other derivative works on the
Harry Potter series as complementary, and a sign of her success. No longer! Within the past year or less, someone tried to publish an encyclopedia of the
Harry Potter world and the people/things in it. Ms. Rowling had planned to do so herself. SO WHAT? She says it's bad - AGAIN
SO WHAT?! It's an "Unofficial" lexicon. If Rowling does finish her own, it will, presumably, be better. THe "official" version, if you will. The contrast can only serve to increase her sales. However, instead of going to work on her own lexicon, she's spending her time in court.
Read what another fantasy author has to say on the subject here:
http://www.linearpublishing.com/RhinoStory.htmland a "fan" site here:
http://www.geocities.com/sayswamp/worst.htmAn Art Bell stream can only serve to keep his brilliance in the pubic consciousness - though there is a difference. MV isn't writing or broadcasting BASED on Art's work - he's using it in toto - however, he isn't making any money on it. (which, BTW - where the law is concerned isn't the primary issue - though it is part of the issue) Okay, so it's not legal, (though the HP lexicon may be -- the case was supposed to be settled by now but I haven't found anything on that yet) but - DAMN! Who is he really taking anything from? He's not CLAIMING it's his own, he's not charging. I think the argument can be made that his stream is GOOD for Art - though admittedly not good for George since it goes hand in had with his opinion of George as, well, we all know his opinion of George. And THAT may be more to the point where Noory is concerned.)
Yes, the situations are quite different. Rowling and her reps are just flat out being assholes. MV has infringed on copyright as I understand it. But again, the whole intellectual property law arena is so out of hand
I DON'T CARE. As far as I'm concerned, the stream is civil disobedience at it's finest.
A very quick and dirty history of copyright law in the US:
Originally, it was intend to LIMIT the amount of time a creator could have exclusive right to their work. Copyright had to be applied for, or any works were automatically in the pubic domain. The limit, when life expectancy was much shorter, was 14 years. An author could reapply for an additionally 14 years at the end of that time.
Then, the terms were changed to 28 years plus 28, again, IF APPLIED FOR. Still fairly reasonable as life expectancy increased, particularly since one had to apply and could choose to allow work to revert to public domain.
Long story short - copyrights have gotten longer and longer (currently life + 70 years for an individual, 100 years for a company UNLESS the concept is reused, at which point the clock starts over - hence cheapo DVDs like Lion King 5152 which no one will ever see but Disney doesn't care. (I don't really know how many Lion Kings there are - but you get the point) Disney KNOWS they are crap. What they want is to maintain exclusive rights to the original as long as possible.
Add to that the fact that copyrights are now AUTOMATIC. Once something is in a form that can be communicated to others - presuming it can be called original - it belongs to the creator. This applies to EVERYTHING including that doodle you did on the paper napkin at your favorite breakfast joint last week, or the silly ditty you sang into your computer. Now, the job of the US Copyright office is simply to record dates for $10 so that if you do end up in court, you have proof, which may or may not stand up in court (usually it will).
Before his death, Sonny Bono proposed that copyright be extended FOREVER. When it was pointed out that his proposal was unconstitutional, some congressional wag suggested "how about forever minus one day - that's a limit!" (I don't know if they were kidding or not.) Mary Bono - who took over Sonny's seat - has continued to press the issue with the help of deep pocket lobbyists - many of whom are funded by Disney. Walt Disney himself made his original fortune on derivative works! (We all know about Snow White and so on, but even the original Micky Mouse (
Steamboat Willy) was a contemporary parody of a Buster Keaton film called
Steamboat Bill Jr.
Siiiiiiiiiiigh
/rant
Okay - I lied - one more piece of rant -- you may or may not think that Andy Warhol was brilliant. No one can argue that he had impact on the world of art. Today, his work would be banned as infringement. Oh PLEASE people! WHY is, for example, the Campbell Soup logo so very famous? HINT: It's not the quality of their product.
Now, I'll TRY to stop . . . .
And FAIL
I forgot to mention that the original Bono bill proposal included a clause that would make the law RETROACTIVE. The "public domain" is already dissolving before our eyes - this woud have made it go "Poof" with a stroke of a pen. The pubic domain has a purpose, and that purpose is to allow culture to grow. Building upon previous works - as a complement to the original creator and as a method or creation - has been around since (human) creativity began. Without it - the rich get richer, and we all (even the "rich") become culturally poorer - in fact, BANKRUPT.
