Christian M. Cepel wrote: > I for one love America... All its virtues, and all its many > shortcomings. I love all the people who love America, and all the > Americans who Hate America, because whether they admit it or not, they > all want the same thing (usually)... They want a better America, and a > better world.
Richard Walker wrote: > I love America too ==== I am a heavy user of the abc system just like our member Atte André Jensen who withdrew his Jazz Songbook from Internet because he feared problems with copyright issues. This was too bad. Atte writes abc code optimized for abcm2ps and his sheet music is of great perfection. He lived in Netherlands at that time, a country where everything is possible (and allowed), but in spite of that he felt he couldn't keep his jazz standards publicly available. He now lives in Denmark, but also that didn't change anything. It might not be very well known to you, but we actually have copyright laws even here in Germany (and in the rest of the European Union) too, and a development which isn't much different from the development in USA when it comes to copyright, software patents (!) and things like that. The critizism uttered about things going on in USA is not necessarily specific for USA. It is no longer than a couple of weeks ago that the local newspaper here said that an annual local flea market had to drop the (hobby) bands playing there because of problems with GEMA. Although there had been several negotiations with the GEMA there was no way to keep the payments they wanted on a reasonable level. There is no use in making a traditional flea market as part of a city fiesta if all the money you gain is to be paid for the copyright agency because some hobby musicians play music for other people who aren't coming to hear them (it isn't a concert, just background entertainment). So actually we do observe similar phenomenons in Europe as what has been described in America. We might however not all of us feel compelled to discuss our opinion about European politics at this place. Also I don't feel compelled to utter how deep my love for Europe is. The reason why I participate on this list is that I think abc is a great tool that enables us to do a lot of things that would otherwise not be possible. I have used it since many years and I am willing to communicate with anyone in the world who strives to develop the abc system or to promote its use. This mailing list is certainly not the environment to state my opinion about your country. I have done that often enough at other, more suitable, places. Ulf To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
