I was listening to an old Carter Family album this morning, and got a good example to the value of a limited copyright.
A.P. Carter was a music collector - in the early 1900's he gathered folk music and published it in his own name. Since this music was basicly public domain prior to his recording it and claiming it, it's arguable that it should return to the public domain after he received compensation for finding, performing, and publishing the music. One song stands out in mind - "When the World's on Fire". Carter wrote new words to an old tune. This tune is better known now as the one Woody Guthrie used 30 years later for "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land". So, if the song was originally copyrighted, Carter couldn't have written new words and published it. And if Carter's copyright had remained in effect then we wouldn't have "This Land is Your Land". Also, doesn't "America the Beautiful" use the same tune as "God Save the Queen"? Must not have been copyrighted. Copyright has a grand purpose, but it loses its appeal if used to prevent works based on it. The founders realized this when they wrote the Constitution. After all, the fledgling Americans were openly using copyrighted work from England, and realized it was necessary for building a new country. Thus, our Constitution specifies copyrights exist for a "limited" time. But now Congress keeps extending the "limited" term of copyright. Chris Norloff ______________________________________________________________________ This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
