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International: Isn’t 50 years of copyright enough?

Elvis has left the building – time to free his works too.

The international recording industry is preparing to lobby the EU for changes to existing copyright law. But in an attempt to manipulate law for profit, we are being asked to place whole chunks of our culture into a commercial vacuum.

I wrote about this issue in the post titled Elvis: “That’s All Right” to end of copyright.

This is clearly a move motivated by money, no one cares about the other music of the fifties that has just entered the public domain in the UK such as ‘You Belong To My Heart’ by Jo Stafford. But when it’s copyright of Elvis that might expire then there must be something wrong with copyright law. This damn loophole must be closed that allows works only to have a limited copyright lifespan.

Yeah right, there is a reason why the creators of copyright law did so with a limitation on the length that each created work would have protection for. They realised that a balance had to be struck between what benefited the author and what benefited the public at large.

The issue is not about getting music for free i.e. with out a monetary cost but about freedom of music.

Tags: copyright, Elvis

According to the Wikipedia the national anthem of Vanuatu is Yumi, Yumi, Yumi.

Just watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics and as is typical for such events it was a surreal bizarre affair, but it was beautifully fascinating a depiction of the history and myth of Ancient Greece the birth place of the Olympic games. Starting with the Goddess of fertility a procession toured the stadium finally finishing with a pregnant woman whose belly began to glow with an inner light as she stepped into a pool of water from which rose strands of light depicting the milky way.

Then we have the procession of the national teams in order of the Greek names using the Greek alphabet so we start with Saint Lucia followed by the team from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and in the middle of the procession we get Zambia and Zimbabwe who usually would be at the end. Commentator Barry Davies does his usual exemplary job of commentating on events outside of his normal expertise and presents is with a mix of sport and geography.

Facts by Barry: Australia has the second biggest team again and are one of only 4 teams to have competed in every games. The national anthem of Vanuatu is Yummy Yummy Yummy apparently. British Virgin Islands has only a single competitor. Comoros a country I’ve never even heard of. Strange. A Korean team which is a joint team of both North and South Korean competitors.

BBC coverage of the Olympic Games starts here.

Tags: sport

In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.

Following this news, U.S. Military Clears A-Team Of Charges the problem-solving A-Team should be easier to find.

Tags: security

Stop reading right now and take a look at your desktop. How many things are you doing right now in addition to reading this column? Me, I’m listening to music, I’ve got four web browser windows open, reading a couple of weblogs, viewing new photos at Fickr and writing this blogpost.

Folks, this isn’t multi-tasking. This is advanced case of Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder. I am unable to function at my desktop unless I’ve got, at least, five things going on at the same time. If your count came close, you’re probably afflicted, as well.

I should be in bed by now but I cannot help but carry on with this shouting through a thunderstorm.

Surfing through the various pictures at Flickr I came across the photos of Roland Tanglao, blogger and prolific photographer with over 2200 pictures hosted at Flickr.

Possibly another Henri Cartier-Bresson in the making who took over 700 000 photographs in his life.

Is it an indication of the state of the British education system or am I expecting too much?

Two 12 year old girls bored and looking for something do wander into the cinema to find out what we are showing. I tell them and they ask the question “Who’s King Arthur?”

Fuck me. I’m dumbfounded. “You know King Arthur, knights of the round table, Merlin the magician, Lancelot.”

How can they not know who King Arthur is. But as I say am I expecting too much, how many people in this country actually do know who he is.

So anyway they go in to watch it. About half an hour later one of the girls comes out to buy some popcorn. Because we are so fucking chronically understaffed I have to serve her. She is a little on the chubby size and she knows it because when she asks for a large popcorn I repeat it just to be sure I heard correctly but she replies “It isn’t just for me. It’s for my friend as well” like I’d implied that she was fat and greedy or something.

Tags: cinema

Though you do have to spend the money wisely in order to achieve it.

How not to buy happiness by Robert H. Frank

Considerable evidence suggests that if we use an increase in our incomes, as many of us do, simply to buy bigger houses and more expensive cars, then we do not end up any happier than before. But if we use an increase in our incomes to buy more of certain inconspicuous goods–such as freedom from a long commute or a stressful job–then the evidence paints a very different picture.

From the White House website: Transcript of remarks by the President at the Signing of H.R. 4613, the Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005.

Exhibiting a trait that he has become renowned for President Bush made an odd slip-up in his speech.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

A mere mispeak or was he admitting to a deliberate policy of damaging the US and its citizens. Critics of his administratyion would argue that its policies have been damaging to the country, although I’m sure no one believes it has been a deliberate policy.

Tags: politics