Mary Bono, speaking to the House of Representatives:
"Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever. I am informed by staff that such a change would violate the Constitution. I invite all of you to work with me to strengthen our copyright laws in all of the ways available to us. As you know, there is also Jack Valenti's proposal for term to last forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee may look at that next Congress."
Or perhaps you may step the fuck off, Ms. Bono. He wasn't that talented! Only the historians will care about your dead husband! Don't jock them. You are out of your league!
"If we passed a law against the color blue, artists would ignore it. Without a second thought."
I would have thought that you, of all people, would have gotten over that feeling of surprise when you find out how stupid other people are.
Is this stupidity, or is it greed? :)
I'm impressed by that "forever minus one day" loophole.
Why am I filled with the urge to find a copy of "I Got You, Babe" and share it somehow?
Them's fightin' words!
There is no reason whatsoever that anyone that would call "infinity minus one" properly limited.
argh.
Ignorance, stupidity and nothing else...
(Douglas Adams)
*dropped into the "quotes to bring with me to law school" file*
I think, had that gone anywhere, it would have been very interesting to see the definitions of 'forever' that Congress could whip up. I mean, are we talking about human existence or cosmic eternity or what?
I mean, let's say we leave some films in a time capsule. Then our new robot masters find it in their cold, stainless steel hearts to have some mercy upon us with their heat lasers. And then, after we're all gone, they get wiped out by the 2012 meteor and leave the earth barren for thousands of years. After that time, the aliens from the end of Artificial Intelligence: A.I. show up and find our time capsule.
Would Jack Valenti's definition of 'forever less a day' enable him to come back from the dead and sue the aliens for distributing digital copies of Kubrick films subsequent to the discovery?
It actually appears to be on page H9951.
Still it's sad that it appears at all.
Um, no, H9952, column 1, reading the PDF at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi
H9952 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE October 7, 1998
also, software. It is said that ``it all starts with
a song,'' and these works have defined our
culture to audiences world-wide.
Actually, Sonny wanted the term of copyright
protection to last forever. I am informed
by staff that such a change would violate the
Constitution. I invite all of you to work with me
to strengthen our copyright laws in all of the
ways available to us. As you know, there is
also Jack Valenti's proposal for term to last
forever less one day. Perhaps the Committee
may look at that next Congress.
(of course, you can't FOLLOW that link)
Umm, I'm pretty sure she was making a joke. Standard technique of public speaking. Looks like the Congressional Record doesn't nclude the smileys.
She may have been making a joke, but I would also find suspect any jokes about cannibalism coming from Jeffrey Dahmer, for example.
Lets just destroy all art now, so no one, anywhere, ever, will appreciate it.