Are birds exempt from copyright laws? Hmmm, a good question. I'll bet a lawyer will gladly charge you many thousands of dollars to find out ;-)

BTW, I've never seen an episode of American Idol, MASH, Taxi, Simpsons, Cheers, Sex In The City, Seinfeld, Desperate Housewives, any "reality show", and every other show that is talked about. The last time I saw a football game on TV, Bob Greise was the quarterback of the Dolphins and they just finished their undefeated season.

Instead of watching TV I've:

  • spent a lot of fun time with Leilani, my wife/lover/best-friend/bandmate - we've talked, laughed, and shared experiences together
  • learned and sequenced over 500 songs for my duo
  • wrote 18 style disks and 28 fake disks for BiaB
  • learned how to run a mail-order business that evolved into an internet business
  • learned to play wind synthesizer, and emulate other instruments well enough to fool players of those instruments
  • learned to play lead guitar, it's surprising how quickly an hour or two per day can make you proficient - I amaze my guitar playing friends about how fast I learned - but it is my seventh instrument so I took a lot of music knowledge to it
  • learned to mod a guitar, replaced pickups, re-wired for 1 tone 1 vol, and installed a Varitone -- turning a cheap guitar with a great neck into a real player
  • improved my saxophone playing
  • improved my knowledge of music theory
  • attended numerous symphonies, art museums, local events, and ballets
  • jammed with fellow musicians
  • learned to write HTML and authored two web sites -- http://www.nortonmusic.com and http://www.s-cats.com
  • read dozens of interesting books, mostly of the non-fiction and scientific genre
  • wasted thousands of hours on the Internet
  • and more.


So the farther I get from being a TV addict, the more I wonder why people want to be in that drug-induced stupor and waste their lives. Personally I'd rather live my life by doing things than live my live vicariously by watching actors pretending to do things.

I don't have an antenna (although the house is wired for it and the mast is in place - something I can easily do), I don't have cable service, and in my area, all I can get is a very, very snowy, often unwatchable "praise the Lord" station (and I don't think Jesus would approve of it).

However, full disclosure is necessary. Leilani and I do sit down once or twice a week and watch a Netflix movie. Usually not the blockbusters, no chick flicks, no dick flicks, and hopefully something either artsy-fartsy or thought provoking that leads to a lot of discussion between the two of us.

We started our relationship by endlessly talking to each other, and decades later we are still talking and laughing together every day. And that's a lot better than sitting in front of the tube together.

Back to copyrights.

There is a lot of copyright violation going on. There is nothing the copyright holders can do but put a small dent into it. After all, how many people have shared a taped movie or CD with their friends or family members? Such an action can cost you up to a quarter of a million dollars and five years in jail in the unlikely event you would get caught and prosecuted. If you are a business, that can be doubled.

Plus there are a lot of copyright misunderstandings.

The biggest one is that if no money changes hands, it's legal. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There is no mention of money in the copyright laws. There are "Fair Use" exemptions, but they are vague and require the services of a lawyer who specializes in intellectual property to decipher -- and even then, you can get into trouble because of the fact that the laws are vague.

If I were dictator I'd change a lot about the copyright laws.

Playing the songs in a bar or coffee house. Who does it hurt? Not sure. Who gains? The owner of the venue is making revenue. The band might be getting paid. But is the artist going to miss the money?

I doubt it for two reasons (1) if the song is popular enough for the audience to want to hear it in a coffee house, the artist has already made a lot of money (2) it's free advertising for the song (3) there is no way of reporting which songs you played in the coffee house so the particular song writers of the songs you sing there are not going to directly benefit by your singing of those songs. I suppose the money goes mostly to administration and partly to the retirement fund or something like that.

But it is definitely illegal without the venue obtaining a license.

I don't think that's right.

I don't think singing "Happy Birthday" without paying royalties is right either. Something like that should be owned by the public.

I think 75 years after the death of the author is excessive, but I'm not sure what I'd make it.

I don't think corporations should be allowed to hold copyrights, but only the people who actually did the work.

I'd make numerous other changes, and to tell the truth, I don't know if my decisions would be helpful or hurtful -- so I'd have to adjust them as I went along. Plus not everyone would agree with me.

So all I can do is find out what the copyright laws are, and abide by them. I'm neither big nor powerful enough to change them. I've written to my representatives, but not enough people have cared to join me in that pursuit to make a difference (they'd probably rather vegetate in front of the TV).

I don't think the public knows the power that they have. And it's too easy to get distracted by other things that matter less.

After all, did you know that the US government spends many millions of your tax dollars per year to keep the sugar prices high? So high that the soft drink manufacturers find it cheaper to put high-fructose corn syrup in their drinks? And corn syrup doesn't taste as good as sugar and is worse for your health.

But I'll bet you know who won the super bowl, who Bart Simpson is, the characters on Seinfeld, who's playing in March Madness, and/or soap opera plots.

Which matters more to the quality of your life?

Isn't it worth writing a letter to your representative, and then not voting for him/her if he/she ignores your wishes and represents big business instead of the citizens?

And do you believe the propaganda spewed out on TV? Remember, the TV companies are owned by big businesses like GE, Disney, Fox, etc., and broadcast what is good for themselves, not what is good for you, and aren't above telling falsehoods and disguising it as news and fact to increase their profits.

'nuff said.

(Sorry, I'm on a rant today).

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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