8 Dec 2006
Dear Norman Baker MP,
As I am sure you are aware the The Gowers Review of Intellectual
Property has been released and made some sensible suggestions about
intellectual rights and most importantly advised against a copyright
term extension for sound recordings.
However it turns out that yesterday (7 Dec 2006), there was an ad in
the FT listing 4,000 musicians who supported retrospective term
extension for sound recordings. If you read the list, you’ll see that
at least some of these artists are dead (e.g. Lonnie Donegan, died 3
November 2002; Freddie Garrity, died 19 May 2006).
It is interesting to see so many musicians mobilizing in support of
the lobbying efforts of the record industry to increase a monopoly at
the expense of the public good, it is even more surprising to note
that the record industry are somehow are able to channel the wishes
of the dead.
It rather reminded me of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to James
Madison on 6 September 1789 in which he wrote: "I set out on this
ground, which I suppose to be self evident, that the earth belongs
in usufruct to the living; that the dead have neither powers nor
rights over it..."
I hope you will take the opportunity to raise this matter with the
Department of Culture Media and Sport.
Best regards
David Berry
--
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1967046,00.html
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